This course introduces concepts, mediums, and techniques for creating interactive objects that use digital, tactile, auditory and visual inputs and outputs. The aims of interactive works will be discussed as students create responsive objects, hack and repurpose hardware, and collect and represent data. Students will also develop their design process through sketching and prototyping in pencil and with code. Students will approach interactive work with various inquiries, such as: What are the relationships of hardware and software? What makes an object interactive? How do you build inputs and outputs? When conveying different types of information (ex. temporal or spatial), what type of feedback should be used (ex. sonic, visual, or haptic)? Students will conceive, plan, and develop an interactive object with an understanding of the importance of their role as a designer and developer, rather than a consumer, of interactive media. Emphasis is on a critical awareness of new technologies, an articulated design process, and creative engagement with the medium.

This course introduces concepts, mediums and techniques for creating game-like objects. A game-like object is any item or entity that the player can interact with: interactive objects that provide information, propels, empowers or weakens a player as well as elements that stimulate the environment and setting of a meaningful play experience. This studio will cover the game design part of the game-like object while the lab will focus on the construction of the object. Through the semester, students will develop an understanding of the formal structure, play experience, and community aspect of games, and speak to a larger issue at the heart of games: the design of interactivity. Students will approach game related work with various inquiries, such as: Are there things that we can find in common among all games? How do games work? What defines a game as different from other kinds of experiences? From what elements is a game constructed? How does a player interact with a game? How do games intersect with and create community and culture? To aid us in our creative work, we will read a number of theoretical approaches to games and design, critically evaluate existing games on several levels, and engage in peer evaluation of fellow students’ work.