Symbiotic Media
University of Oklahoma
Smart Spaces
Faculty: Andrew H. Fagg (Computer Science) and Adam Brown (Art)
DESCRIPTION:
Modern computing, sensing, and networking technologies have made it possible to easily create tiny electronic devices that can be scattered throughout the environments in which we live and work. These devices allow us to literally move the computer interface away from the traditional keyboard and screen into/onto any object around us. These devices have the potential to transform the way in which we experience and interact with our environments, our computers, the Internet, and other people.
This course brings together students from computer science, engineering, and the arts to explore the technological, social, and artistic implications of such a distributed, embedded interface. The course examines a range of topics including artificial intelligence, robotics, art, installation, interface, emergence, and sensor networks. In addition, the course bridges the perceived traditional boundaries between engineering, the sciences and the arts by examining the role that problem solving plays in art and the innovation inherent in scientific exploration. In particular the course explores the expression of art through the embedding of digital technologies into our environments.
The Sm[ART] Spaces course is a marriage between two courses that are currently being offered by the Schools of Computer Science and Art. CS 4163/5163 (Embedded Systems) and Art 4813 (How to Build Robots for Artists) focus on the integration of computing systems with sensing and actuation. In both courses, the students learn a base set of skills that enable them to design and build small circuits that combine simple computers with electronics that allow interaction with people and with environments. The two classes meet together weekly to discuss existing work at the intersection between fields, discuss the artistic and social implications of the technologies, design group projects, and interact with guest lecturers. In addition, the classes also meet separately on a weekly basis to focus on technical topics that are specific to the respective courses.
Fagg and Brown have previously co-taught a cross-listed seminar on the same subject (Spring of 2006). This seminar course was attended by students from both the Colleges of Engineering and Fine Arts, and resulted in a collaborative installation art piece called Pulse Pool that was exhibited at the Boston Museum of Science.
COURSE SCHEDULE: