CA

New Course Proposal: IAT 422-3 Media Arts Studio 1: Wearing Technologies, Fabricating Experience

S. Kozel, T. Schiphorst, School of Interactive Arts and Technology

12 November 2004

Calendar Information

Course Number: IAT 422-3

Course Title: Wearing Technologies, Fabricating Experience

Credit Hours: 3 Vector: 2-0-0

Course Description

This final year course will be a context for students to extend their performance and media arts training into the area of wearable technologies and mobile computing. With distinct art and body perspectives, this course will explore the sensual and expressive dimensions of designing ‘smart’ garments that translate aspects of embodied experience. Fashion and the idea that wearables are a ‘second skin’ will be central to the course. The course will combine conceptual and technical research into mobile wearable computing, with research into artists working specifically with fabrics, textiles and physical gestures. Methodologies that integrate experimentation with materials, development of technical specifications, and the crafting of physical experiences will be explored.

Prerequisite: Body Interface IAT320, and Interactive Performance and Installation IAT322 or Kinesthetic Space IAT321

Recommended: Issues in Performance and Media Arts IAT323. For students wanting to specialize in wearables and desiring a different perspective, the ID stream’s wearable studio courses will be recommended.

Corequisite:

Special Instructions: None.

Course(s) to be dropped if this course is approved:

None

Rationale for Introduction of this Course

Wearable technologies are a key extension of work devoted to the performing body in networked interactive systems. Wearables are also an increasingly important area in the worlds of media arts, networked arts and HCI. This course takes a specifically artistic approach to this area and allows students to extend their training into this highly creative area. It can act as a foundation for graduate studies or a career in body-centered mobile computing industry.

Will this be a required or elective course in the curriculum; probable enrolment when offered?

This course will be one of 3 out of a bundle of 6 upper level courses that students may select.

Scheduling and Registration Information

Indicate Semester and Year this course would be first offered and planned frequency of offering thereafter.

This course will initially be offered in fall 2005 and following years depending on student demand.

Which of your present CFL faculty have the expertise to offer this course? Will the course be taught by sessional or limited term faculty?

Of our present faculty, the following have the expertise to offer this course:

Susan Kozel, Associate Professor

Thecla Schiphorst, Associate Professor

It is anticipated that new faculty hires will also be able to teach this course.

Are there any proposed student fees associated with this course other than tuition fees?

No.

Is this course considered a `duplicate' of any current or prior course under the University's duplicate course policy? Specify, as appropriate.

No.

Resource Implications

Note: Senate has approved (S.93-11) that no new course should be approved by Senate until funding has been committed for necessary library materials. Each new course proposal must be accompanied by a library report and, if appropriate, confirmation that funding arrangements have been addressed.

Provide details on how existing instructional resources will be redistributed to accommodate this new course. For instance, will another course be eliminated or will the frequency of offering of other courses be reduced; are there changes in pedagogical style or class sizes that allow for this additional course offering.

Most of the equipment resources are already in place for this course. The classroom resources is the configurable studio teaching space. It may be necessary to acquire a few new books for the library and it is desirable to consider acquiring a basic biofeedback kit for translating physiological data. (note: the course can also be run without this)

Does the course require specialized space or equipment not readily available in the department or university, and if so, how will these resources be provided?

The configurable studio teaching space will be required.

Does this course require computing resources (e.g. hardware, software, network wiring, use of computer laboratory space) and if so, describe how they will be provided.

No new lab or computing resources will be required.

Course Outline

Course Objectives

Upon completion of this course, students will:

* Understand basic concepts around the construction and critique of wearable computing

* have an awareness of the wider debate for wearables, which includes cyborg theory, gender theory, robotics, prosthetics and radical fashion.

* have experience with conductive fabrics and the importance of materials and the body in the constructions of wearables

* devise a project and prepare a prototype

* evaluate the physical and gestural impact of their wearable design

Course Description

Students will research wearable projects and select one as an example. They will critically evaluate it according to a series of concepts discussed in class and derived from the readings. They will be guided through physical improvisation using materials and gestures to facilitate their design process for their own projects. The will, either individually or in a team, present a proposal for a wearable project and by the end of semester they will present a prototype project.

Learning Activities and Evaluation:

Activities include class-based discussion and presentation of a case study (30%), a project proposal (30%), and a final project prototype (40%).

Texts, Resources & Materials

Suggested:

Picard, Rosalind. 1998. Affective Computing. Cambridge MA: The MIT Press.

Evans, Caroline. 2003. Fashion at the Edge. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.

Lupton, Ellen. 2002. Skin. Princeton Architectural Press.

Damasio, Antonio.1999. The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making of Consciousness. London and New York: Harvest.

Becker & Selden. 1985. The Body Electric: Electromagnetism and the Foundation of Life. New York: Quill

Laurel, Brenda, ed. 2003. Design Research. Cambridge MA: The MIT Press.

Hables Gray,Chris, ed. 1995. The Cyborg Handbook. New York and London: Routledge.