Five of New York City’s universities are partnering to defend and support journalism and independent news media --- one of the most critical elements of our democracy --- as they are increasingly under threat. This unique, first-of-its kind program and collaboration will bring together Cornell Tech, Columbia University, City University of New York, New York University, and The New School -- in partnership with the NYC Media Lab -- to investigate and understand the various threats to journalism and media, and attempt to address these challenges using design, engineering, and computational methods and techniques. The effort will gather graduate students with backgrounds and expertise in journalism, design, and engineering/technology from these institutions in a special course to kick off in Spring 2018. In addition to the course, a speaker series hosted at news organizations around the city will launch in October around the themes of the partnership, featuring influential figures from media and technology. Inaugural media participants that will host fall programming include The New York Times, CNN, BuzzFeed, and the HuffPost. See https://www.techmediademocracy.nyc for more information.

What is digital humanities, and why should it matter to designers? Digital humanities sits at the intersection of scholarship, traditional humanities disciplines, and computational work. As a field, digital humanities uses digital methods to study literatures, history, the arts, and other elements of human society and culture. It can be a powerful site of collaboration between scholars and designers. In this course, students will be introduced to concepts of digital humanities and given the opportunity to apply them to projects in collaboration with the Immersive Reality Lab for the Humanities (IRLHumanities). IRLHumanities is a digital and experimental humanities workgroup that supports scholarly projects that take on digital forms. Throughout the semester, we will consider what the relationship between digital humanities and design is, and what it could become. We will converse with members of IRLHumanities about key elements of their research, design, and production work, and consider how scholars and designers can work together to make projects that are critically rigorous and provocative in their implementation. Projects will be collaboratively generated based on overlap between student interests and the general themes present in IRLHumanities work. At the end of the semester, students will come away with a grasp of key issues in the digital humanities, a sense of how they can integrate humanistic methods in their own work, and experience collaborating on projects that are grounded in scholarship.

The apparel industry has been going through a digital revolution for the better part of a decade. Before COVID-19 this revolution was moving at a slow and steady pace, but now digital ways of working are an immediate requirement for the entire industry. Using the latest in virtual design tools from Shima Seiki, students will address these challenges in creative and innovative research projects. Students are encouraged to bring a wide range of design experiences to the course, as we work together in an interdisciplinary fashion on challenges ranging from sustainability to social justice. The course provides students with extended textile and technology skills that support their individual design philosophy. In collaboration with Ralph Lauren Corporation, students will be presented with the challenges and opportunities that our new virtual paradigm has forced the industry to reckon with. Ralph Lauren will provide access to its rich design history and virtual prototypes for students to work with. A select number of students will also be invited to collaborate with Ralph Lauren and its global supplier network after the course ends to develop physical prototypes of their work. Such close collaboration with a large company will give students the opportunity to understand what happens when their design solutions are scaled up to address industry-wide challenges.

Are there uses for Augmented and Virtual Reality design technologies beyond their primary role in creating entertainment products? Can these AR and VR tools be utilized to help create more livable and sustainable future? The primary audience for VR today is gaming, but there are a wide variety of industries that benefit from the application of VR and AR technologies in their professional processes. These include architecture, urban, interior, product and industrial design, and medical education. This Co-lab explores how VR and AR technologies can be applied to the design of more livable and sustainable cities. Each semester the students choose an abandoned or under-utilized, real-world site, and using AR and VR technologies - along with additional study in urban planning and design – create new and engaging environments. This course explores the history of immersive media; pioneers of VR; current applications of VR; the relationship between AR and VR, and extensions of VR that connect it to the real world. It also teaches principles of “placemaking” and developing communities using Smart City and APA (American Planning Association) guidelines as well as additional on-topic sources. Students will work in a variety of platforms depending on their own backgrounds and interests. Authoring platforms will be Unity and UnReal Engine and modeling platforms will include SketchUp, Blueprint, Playmaker, Rhino and 3D Studio Max.

The global pandemic of 2020 is a stark reminder of the essential human need to connect with each other, in person or remotely. But flat screens cannot replace the intimacy of touch and the feeling of presence when sharing a room. To challenge the current status quo, this studio course sets out to invent radically new interfaces for remote presence. We examine current state-of-the-art tools for collaboration, critically engage with a theory of communication channels, and learn how to design hard- and software interfaces that connect people over a distance. This project based-course will break the boundaries of current screen-based software, by linking physical objects and environments. Could we invent interfaces for remote presence that are calm, or immersive, or poetic, artistic, intimate, private or extremely public? Inspired by Gianni Colombo’s concept of elastic space, we will technologically stretch environments across distances, even through the course format. This is a collaborative class that is taught remotely between Parsons in New York and Atlas Institute at CU Boulder in Colorado. 15 students on each side will collaborate remotely and will build multiple working interfaces that communicate across time and space.

This course is a hands-on, practical workshop where students produce their own experiential, immersive stories. Exploring the intersection of narrative and design, students will collaboratively devise a series of immersive pieces, culminating in a public showcase. This work will examine the integration of games, performance, and production design, exploring their use in an immersive context. Students will have the opportunity to practice collaborative methods and gain real world experience, connecting with immersive artists working in the field. The goal of this course is to equip students with the skills to become creators in the immersive sphere, including producing, directing and creating experiential immersive pieces. While being a performer isn’t a prerequisite, students with an interest in storytelling or performance are strongly encouraged to join this class.

Although computing power has risen drastically, we are now witness to the rise of an entirely new type of computation - quantum. The quantum computer can quickly complete calculations that take supercomputers much longer. IBM, Google, Alibaba, Microsoft etc. have debuted major quantum computing programs. IBM-Q (IBM’s project) is now accessible to the general public. The design industry will soon follow suit. Quantum skills are in demand, and this need is expected to accelerate. As artificial intelligence represented next generation skills 10 years ago and is one of the highest-paid careers today, quantum computing represents the future generation of hi-tech skill. The “Practical Quantum Computing” course will introduce quantum computing to students who want to experiment and strengthen their skills. No previous tech skills are required. The course will cover the fundamentals of quantum physics and quantum computing, including superposition, entanglement, interference, qubits, unitary operators, measurement and quantum circuit model. The students will create quantum circuits using Open Quantum Assembly Language (OpenQASM), execute the circuits using real IBM-Q quantum computers, and interpret the results. Students will learn to develop and program quantum computer software using an open-source framework- Qiskit. The course will investigate the application of quantum computing to art, design, education and business. Students will work individually and in groups on class projects. IBM will provide access to its quantum computer via the cloud. The class will visit the IBM quantum computer laboratories to gain first-hand information about the quantum computer. Again, no previous tech skills are required.