The New Ecology of Things
A transmedia publication of the Media Design Program
Art Center College of Design

This graduate funded educational project course is a unique conflunce of the interests of the faculty and the funding of corporation Sun Microsystems Laboratories. It has a more open brief than the typical FEP, and offers great opportunities for students to work with leading faculty and cutting edge technology to create groundbreaking designs and working prototypes.

Course open to graduate students and 6-8 term undergraduates.

What happens when every object and space has a life of its own? What if, sitting in your closet, your old pair of shoes could talk to your new pair? What would they communicate? Suppose your sleeve could tell you about the ten different DVD players for sale at the store? What would that look like and how would you query it? If you were at a party, how would the space tell you about the cool person across the room, or where the conversation about music is?

This Graduate Funded Educational Project/TDS course has the funding of legendary network computer company Sun Microsystems Laboratories, and will be taught by Graduate Media Design Program faculty member Philip van Allen, ACCD Visionary in Residence and Sci-Fi writer Bruce Sterling, and Graphic Design Chair Nik Hafermaas.

With massive RFID tagging and the deployment of smart networked sensors and wireless personal information devices, a new ecology of things is developing. How will people and things interact in this fluid environment of tangible artifacts and the data-spheres that surround them? Who will determine how this interaction works? Through discourse and making, this course will explore how design can influence and address the new ecology of things.

Each student team will design an interactive system (form, interface, function, content) that embraces the coming ecology of smart things in 2015.  The project should challenge traditional ideas of devices and applications, and imagine new relationships between people, sellers, objects and environments.  The interactive system must include a working prototype that helps communicate the project and provide the discipline of designing real, functional applications—e.g. smart shoes, talkative sleeves, match-making environments.  The project may include any combination of products, interfaces, environments and systems, addressing retail, personal and social contexts.

Sun is providing groundbreaking devices called Sun Spots (PDF) which are very small, wireless devices that sense the world and communicate with other Sun Spots and a network. 

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The course is open to selected Art Center graduate students from Media Design, ID, Criticism & Theory, Film, and Fine Art. In addition, the instructors will accept a few upper term students from the undergraduate programs. Applications for the class are available at the chairs office.

Sponsored by the Graduate Media Design Program