Exercise: Project Concept¶

Each project group should choose one idea to begin developing as the final project. It may be one of the ideas you’ve been individually developing or a new joint effort. Please choose an idea within the course objectives which you believe is within the scope of the course resources and your ambitions.

At this point in the process, committing to a direction is the most important step. You need to start working through a single concept in detail and uncover all the unexpected questions as soon as possible. It is easy to stall at this stage waiting for some best idea, but that just delays discovery of the surprises.

Each group will have ten minutes of class time to explain the working concept and answer questions. Please illustrate your idea as one or two slides posted to the Google Shared Drive. If you are continuing to develop an idea you’ve already presented, please include your updates and new insights.

Please be sure to address the course themes specifically:

What is the expressive mobility of your concept?
How does the kinetic performance convey expression and intent?
Where, how, when, for whom will it perform?
What is the experience of the viewer?

Constraints¶

The focus of the class is expressive mobility, so physical movement should be central to the concept. I.e., if the idea still works without the machine actually moving, then motion isn’t essential.

It is fine to include lighting and sculptural form to support the movement. But no displays, screens, or projections.

External sensor systems can enable autonomy but are not usually the first step. I.e., if a machine cannot be puppeted or remote-controlled to convey the mobility concept, then sensor-based automation is unlikely to work. Internal sensor systems may have a role for proprioceptive feedback.

Full autonomy is probably not essential, since it is rarely critical for demonstrating expressive mobility, and thus often invisible to the audience. With our objectives it is principally a refinement to enable long-term performance without supervision.

Deliverables¶

One or two slides capturing the essence of your idea in graphic form.
Brief in-class presentation to show the idea to your peers and answer questions.