IFD:MasterprojectSS16

Projektmodul
Title (alt): Bauhaus Goes Mobile: Exploring and Creating Advanced Mobile Interfaces
Lecturer(s): Vertr. Prof. Michael Markert
Credits/SWS: 18 ECTS, 12 SWS
Maximum Number of Participants: 25
Course Language: English
First meeting: 14.April 2016, 09:30 h Subject to Change!
Date:

• Thursdays, 9:15 to 12:00 h for Theory Meetings (mandatory to all!) and
  
• Thursdays, 13:30 to ~18:30 h for Excursions (not every week, mandatory to all!)
  
• Tuesdays, 13:30 to 18:00 h for individual 30 min consultations (every participant is expected to consult at least twice!)
  

Venue: Room to be announced

Description (EN)

The main objective of this semester will be the creation of a mobile application concept for a Digital Bauhaus Spaziergang, in collaboration with the postgraduate study program Media Architecture (Faculty of Architecture). The course will have two parts: in the morning class we will look at the technological side of things and delve into mobile application programming techniques: from web technologies like HTML5, SVG and CSS3 with JavaScript to Hybrid and Native solutions. We will work hands-on with short live-coding tutorials to cover a broad range of techniques that you can refer to. We will work with Live Coding Editors (no software to install, syntax checkers helps fixing errors as you type, perfect for beginners) and emphasise the usage of built-in browser debugging tools (finding and fixing bugs). We'll also look at basic tools like git (version management, team collaboration and backup tool) and the latest server-side tools like node.js.

Although we will cover some basic graphic design basics along the way, it is expected that students are aware of basic rules of visual communication.

In contrast to the technology and programming related morning sessions, we will test and evaluate available mobile applications in the afternoon! We will of course be starting by doing a guided Bauhaus Spaziergang. But we'll also look at various apps that enhance, enable or support spatial mobility in various aspects: navigation apps for pedestrians, location based mobile games, sports (trackers, story based settings), health (quantified self, calories burnt...), GPS trackers/recorders, wearables (AR glasses, wristbands, smart watches...), culturural heritage & architecture, tourism, navigation apps for public transport, weather (incl. warnings, alerts), arts & experiments, getting lost (derive), mobile WiFi Hotspots, analog navigation gear, Bluetooth iBeacons, ...

Each week we will pick a specific or a genre of apps and use them outdoors in field trips. It is expected that participants use this experience to create either a evaluative report (brief documentation) about the app that was used - and/or collect various data that will be used either weekly or a the end of the semester for a final assignment.

The final assignment should ideally be a concept or a partial concept (teamwork possible) for the Bauhaus Spaziergang that can be realized at a later point. The grade will be a combination of this final assignment/proposal along with the weekly assignments for the outdoor app evaluations.

Please note: because of the nature of the second part of our course with various field trips, the ending time will vary. We might also use the train and leave Weimar; sometimes we might only return in the evenings. Please do not enroll in this course if you have other appointments or obligations on Thursday afternoons. I will not accept students asking to join just one part of this project!

Description (DE)

In Zusammenarbeit mit dem Studiengang Media Architecture (Fakultät Medien), werden wir uns dieses Semester mit der Konzeption einer mobilen App für einen digitalen Bauhaus-Spaziergang befassen. Dies wird sowohl mit technologischen Mitteln am Vormittag geschehen, wo wir uns u.a. mit Webtechnologien (HTML5, CSS3, SVG, JavaScript), hybriden und nativen Apps auseinandersetzen. Ein Fokus liegt hierbei auf der Anwendung von Live-Editoren und die Verwendung von Debugging-Tools im Browser, die die Entwicklung stark vereinfachen und sehr intuitiv sind (auch für Anfänger geeignet).

Am Nachmittag werden wir dann raus gehen und verschiedene bereits existierende mobile Applikationen ausprobieren und evaluieren. Jede Woche setzen wir einen anderen Themenschwerpunkt und es wird erwartet, dass die Studentinnen und Studenten jeweils einen kurzen evaluierenden Bericht über ihre Erfahrungen mit den Apps machen - oder aber mit ihren Mobilgeräten regelmäßige Daten sammeln, um diese für die Endabgabe in einer künstlerischen Anwendung aufzubereiten.

Als Ergebnis sollte am Ende des Semesters ein ganzes oder Teilkonzept (Teamwork ist möglich) eines App-Entwurfs für den digitalen Bauhaus-Spaziergang entstehen. Die wöchentlichen Evaluierungen unserer praktischen Feldexkursionen werden auch Teil der Endbenotung sein.

Der Kurs findet auf Englisch statt, für weitere Informationen beachten Sie bitte den englischen Text.

Topics

• Our main objective will be the concept development for the University's digital Bauhaus Spaziergang
• Mobile Networked Technologies, Connected Devices and the Internet of Things
• Location Based Data & Mobile User Interfaces
• Augmented Spaces
• Smartphone Sensors
• Spatial information, quality and organization of space
• Temporal aspects of space
• Navigation / Routing / Means of Transport
• Dérive and Getting Lost
• ...
• Mobile Web Technologies: HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript
• Server-Side Technologies: PHP, Node.js, Websockets
• Communication Protocols: TCP/IP, UDP, OSC
• About Webapps, Hybrid Apps and Native Apps
• ...

Field Trips

• Bauhaus-Spaziergang
• Soundwalk, e.g. Janet Cardiff in Cospeda across the "Windknollen": http://www.jena1806.de
• Planning Outdoor activities with komoot and other outdoor navigation apps, different map applications (GMaps, Apple Maps, Bing Aerial, 3D Terrain etc...)
• Analog and digital navigation techniques (Compass, Celestial Navigation, Waymarkers...)
• Quantitative Self: Electronic Gear, Fitness Trackers (Calories, Steps, Kilometers, Health Data)
• Dérive Apps (Getting Lost in Apolda)
• Ingress
• Agent-X Mobile
• Zombies Run, CodeRunner
• Father.io (if publicly available)
• Geo-Caching
• Audio-Guides (Buchenwald)
• Touristic Apps (BauhausGuide, Zeitfenster, ImpulsRegion, Topographie der Moderne ...)
• Virtual mobility (e.g. Second Life)
• Public Transport Apps (Rail Navigator, Zugradar, Captain Train, Qixxit, Ally, Transit, City Mapper)
• ...

Admission requirements / Voraussetzung zur Teilnahme an der Veranstaltung

• see Registration Procedure below

Registration procedure / Anmeldung

Please send your application until Saturday, April 8, 8 am (morning) by email with the Subject MasterprojectSS16 to: michael.markert (at) uni-weimar.de.

• Name, Surname
• program and semester (Studienprogramm und Fachsemester)
• matriculation number (Matrikelnummer)
• Angabe der geltenden Prüfungsordnung
• Valid email address @uni-weimar.de (no other mailing addresses will be accepted) Why?
• Information about what other courses you are planning to register for this semester
• Short sentence on why you want to participate in this course.

What happens if there are more than 10 registrations (to be expected):

• The first 10 registrations will be accepted (first come, first serve), unless your matching the criteria listed at the end of this paragraph.
• Registrations #11 to #35 will receive an on hold message and will be notified until Tuesday, April 12 if they are accepted. Criteria for acceptance will be (in this order)
  • Your motivation and your intent to participate on the main project topic (Bauhaus-Spaziergang)
  • You must have time on Thursdays (before noon and afternoon!)
  • If you need to enrol because your study regulations require taking this module
  • Time of registration (first come, first serve)
  • Previous knowledge (we're interested in having great projects at the end of the semester)
  • You're working on a Master-Thesis at the chair of Interface Design
• Registrations #36 onwards will be denied.
• If there are more than 25 students in the first meeting, you will not be allowed to join the course if:
  • You didn't register by E-Mail
  • You did register after April 8
• Your registration will not be accepted if:
  • You are planning to show up for only one part (indoor theory or outdoor practice)
  • You cannot show up for more than two classes (because of various reasons)
  • You are not planning to work on a project related to the Bauhaus Spaziergang
  • You were formerly enrolled in one of my previous courses and never showed up or left without further notice after one or two meetings

Evaluation / Geforderte Prüfungsleistung zur Erlangung eines Leistungsnachweises

1. Active participation (no more than two missed classes!)
2. At least two individual consultations (Tuesday afternoons)
3. Midterm assignment (required, even though the midterm grade is just for your information)
4. Presentation at the end of the lecture period, this includes presentations at our Interface Design ShowReel and during the Summaery
5. Final assignment at the end of the semester including documentation: Artistic examination (see Examination Regulations!)
6. Uploading your work in progress in our project collaboration tool, respecting deadlines

Eligible participants / Zielgruppe

Master students enrolled in the Faculties of Media, Design and MediaArchitecture

Syllabus

Termine des Semesters

1. 14.04.2016: First Meeting (subject to change!), Intro, Mobile Apps, Essentials
2. 21.04.2016: Inside Scribbling, Wireframing, Testing and Prototyping; HTML5 & CSS3 Crash Course | Outside Bauhaus Spaziergang
3. 28.04.2016: Inside CSS3 & accessing the DOM | Outside Cospeda (Janet Cardiff Audiowalk)
4. 05.05.2016: no meeting due to Holiday (Christi Himmelfahrt)
5. 12.05.2016: Inside: no class | Outside: Baumkronenpfad Hainich (optional)
6. 19.05.2016: Inside Programming Languages and JavaScript (Variables, Datatypes, Functions) | Outside Agent X
7. 26.05.2016: Inside Geolocation: Maps, Location, Coordinates, GeoJSON, GPX | Outside tba
8. 02.06.2016: Inside Javascript: Objects, Prototype; Debugging & Live Coding | Outside tba
9. 09.06.2016: Midterm Presentations Part I (tba)
10. 16.06.2016: Inside Visual Elements & Animations | Outside tba
11. 23.06.2016: Inside Audio, Video and Multimedia | Outside tba
12. 30.06.2016: Inside tba | Outside tba
13. 07.07.2016: Inside tba | Outside tba
14. 14.07.2016: Inside tba | Outside tba
15. tba: Final Presentation (joint session with MediaArchitecture)

Literature

• Raumtheorie: Grundlagentexte aus Philosophie und Kulturwissenschaften, Jörg Dünne und Stephan Günzel (eds), Suhrkamp 2006, ISBN 9783518294000
  • René Descartes: Über die Prinzipien der Materiellen Dinge (1644)
  • Albert Einstein: Raum, Äther und Feld in der Physik (1930)
  • Martin Heidegger: Die Räumlichkeit des Daseins (1927)
  • Jacques Lacan: Die Topik des Imaginären (1954)
  • Vilém Flusser: Räume (1991)
  • Henri Lefebvre: Die Produktion des Raums (1974)
  • Michel de Certeau: Praktiken im Raum (1980)
  • Gilles Deleuze und Félix Guattari: Das Glatte und das Gekerbte (1980)
• Die Heterotopien, Michel Foucault, Suhrkamp 2005, ISBN 3518584286
• The Poetics of Augmented Space, Lev Manovich, Sage 2006 (first published 2002), http://www.alice.id.tue.nl/references/manovich-2006.pdf
• Theory of the Dérive, Guy Debord, Internationale Situationniste #2, 1958, http://www.cddc.vt.edu/sionline/si/theory.html
• Space Oddity - Raumtheorie nach dem Spatial Turn, Martina Löw, 2015, http://www.sozialraum.de/space-oddity-raumtheorie-nach-dem-spatial-turn.php
• Topologie: Zur Raumbeschreibung in den Kultur- und Medienwissenschaften, Stephan Günzel (eds), transcript 2007, ISBN 9783899427103
• Media City: Situations, Practices and Encounters, Frank Eckardt (eds), Frank & Timme 2008, ISBN 9783865961822
  • Katharine Willis: Wayfinding Situations (2010)
• Handbook of Research on Urban Informatics, M. Foth (eds), Information Science Reference 2008
  • Katharine Willis & Jens Geelhaar: Information Places - Navigating Interfaces Between Physical and Digital Space
• Navi essen Orientierungssinn auf, Passig, K., 2014 ZEIT Online. Available at: http://www.zeit.de/digital/internet/2014-05/kathrin-passig-gps-navigationssystem/komplettansicht [Accessed July 4, 2014].
• Wegzeiger: zur Kulturgeschichte des Verirrens und Wegfindend, Martin Scharfe, Jonas-Verlag 1998, ISBN 3894452307
• Warum ist Landschaft schön? - Die Spaziergangswissenschaft (Promenadologie), Lucius Burkhardt, Schmitz 2006, ISBN 978-3927795426
  • Why is Landscape Beautiful? - The Science of Strollology, Lucius Burkhardt, Schmitz 2006, ISBN 978-3035604078

Semesterapparate

• Link zum Semesterapparat zum Bauhaus-Spaziergang der Architektur und Urbanistik

Links

• Up to date information in the course's page on the MediaWiki: http://www.uni-weimar.de/medien/wiki/IFD:MasterprojectSS16
• Informations about the Bauhaus Walk (Bauhaus-Spaziergang): http://www.uni-weimar.de/en/university/profile/bauhausatelier/bauhaus-walk/,