IFD:All Hail The Pixels

Werkmodul/Fachmodul/FachmodulWerkmodul
Lecturer(s): Martin Schied,Frederic Gmeiner
Credits: 6 ECTS, 4 SWS
Date: Every Second Friday (Schedule TBA), 13:30 until 20:30 h
Venue: Marienstraße 7b, Room 105
First meeting: 17.10.2014

Description

All hail the Pixels!

Square pixels, round pixels, megapixels, microcropixels. Pixel clowds and pixel clowns. Hot pixels, cold pixels, dead pixels and their funerals.

The pixelized physical computing course focuses on all kind of elements that can be used or seen as pixels - be it in Architecture on facades, interior design elements, street lighths or in an experimental display. The course focuses on the prototyping of content displayable on pixels and the realization aspect of pixel based systems.

the course is divided into 4 megapixels:

1. Grids and Pixels - What is a single pixel capable of and how are pixels perceived in larger formations? What can be used as a pixel? Generative Design of Patterns and repeating structures. Experimental systems are done using the well known "Processing" environment.

2. Choreography - What can be done with the developed Systems? How can you represent movements and patterns in a digital system? Concepts to animate the structures and systems are developed.

3. Spacial aspects and realizations. How to transfer digitally prototyped concepts to a real object, e.g. a Building's Facade.

4. Technical Prototype. How does an individual (Pix)Element work in detail? Build one element as a physical working prototype. We will use the Arduino environment and popular electromechanical components to make them.

The class is held by Frederic Gmeiner from Design Studio FELD and Martin Schied.

German description

Pixelbasiertes Gestalten und Grundlagen des Physical Computings. Im Laufe des Semesters werden wir 4 Projektphasen durchlaufen:

1. Raster: Was kann ein einzelnes Modul/Pixel/Baustein? Wie verhalten sich viele im Zusammenspiel? - Entwurf von generativen visuellen Mustern und repetitiven Strukturen mit der Programmierungsumgebung "Processing"

2. Choreographie: Was kann mit den einzelnen Systemen dargestellt werden? - Formulierung von Bewegungsabläufen (Choreographien) und Ausprobieren unterschiedlicher Strategien für die Animation der entwickelten Muster und Strukturen.

3. Räumliche Umsetzung: Wie lassen sich die skizzierten Entwürfe in den realen Raum transferieren? - Konzepte zur Übersetzung der Anordnung und der Bewegungsprinzipien in eine räumlich-physische Umgebung (z.B. Hausfassade).

4. Technischer Prototyp: Wie funktioniert ein einzelner Baustein im Detail? - Prototypenhafte Entwicklung einzelner Mechanik- und Elektronikbausteine welche von einem Mikrokontroller angesteuert werden.

Topics

• tba1
• tba2

Admission requirements

k.A.

Registration procedure

Please send your application by email with the Subject All Hail The Pixels to: martin.schied@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?

Sollte es mehr als 15 Bewerber geben, entscheidet die Reihenfolge der Anmeldungen über die Aufnahme in den Kurs

Evaluation

Active participation, presentation, documentation.

Eligible participants

Graduates enrolled in the Faculties of Media, Gestaltung and in the MediaArchitecture program

Email List

Register for the pixels mailinglist

Participants

Workgroups

Please sign up for a workgroup by replacing "Your name" and "Your email" with your name and mail address. Each group should not exceed five members.

Group A

Name	Email
Xianzhi Zhang	xianzhi.zhang@uni-weimar.de
Your name	Your email
Your name	Your email
Your name	Your email
Your name	Your email

Group B

Name	Email
Isil Onursal	isil.onursal@uni-weimar.de
Your name	Your email
Your name	Your email
Your name	Your email
	Your email

Group C

Name	Email
Your name	Your email
Your name	Your email
Your name	Your email
Your name	Your email
Your name	Your email

Group D

Name	Email
Your name	Your email
Your name	Your email
Your name	Your email
Your name	Your email
Your name	Your email

Group E

Name	Email
Your name	Your email
Your name	Your email
Your name	Your email
Your name	Your email
Your name	Your email

Group F

Name	Email
Your name	Your email
Your name	Your email
Your name	Your email
Your name	Your email
Your name	Your email

Syllabus

The classes will be held every second Week, detailed Schedule will be listed below soon:

17.10. - INTRODUCTION MEETING

• Introduction
  • Short self introduction
  • Examples of different pixel projects
  • What? Why? How?
  • What you will learn in this class
• Questionnaire: What (technical) knowledge and experience do you have about programming and electronics? What do you want to learn?
• Installing Processing
• Mailingliste, Wiki, etc.
• Reading list & (online) resources
• Processing Introduction
  • P01 ShapesAndRelations
  • P02 CustomFunctions

07.11. - PIXELS, PATTERNS, RULES

What is a single pixel capable of and how are pixels perceived in larger formations? What can be used as a pixel? Generative Design of Patterns and repeating structures. Experimental systems are done using the well known "Processing" environment.

• Review of Assignment I

14.11. - GRID, LAYOUT, DISTRIBUTION, STRUCTURE

• Possible strategies:
  • Formulate a (static) grid system
  • Generate structures by dynamic parameters
  • Using external images or structured data

28.11. - MOTION, CHOREOGRAPHY, STORIES

What can be done with the developed Systems? How can you represent movements and patterns in a digital system? Concepts to animate the structures and systems are developed.

• Principle: Using software to prototype motion and behaviour and use the very same system (or parts thereof) to control the movement of the physical installation (authoring system)

Strategies: * Create animations by parameters * Environments / Systems (physics simulations, particle systems) * Using images / video as source

12.12. - GETTING PHYSICAL

• Methods and strategies to transfer the digital prototyped concepts to a real object / mechanism
• What to translate and how?
• Electronics introduction and Arduino
• Developing simple mechanical structures and principles

Research on existing "Pixel" Projects

Upload your findings with a short description and a link to this page:

ResearchPixelProjects

Processing Code Examples

All code examples which were demonstrated during the class meetings are listed on this subpage:

ProcessingSketches

Assignments

ASSIGNMENT 1 - 17.10.2014

"Create three different patterns on paper and formulate these in code with properties using processing "

Upload your image and code sketches to the wiki here: Patterns

Literature

• Joshua Noble: Programming Interactivity, O’Reilly, ISBN 978-0596154141
• Casey Reas und Ben Fry: Processing, Mit Press, ISBN 978-0262182621

Links

tba.