Week 1!!

Week 1!

Hey all!

So the week has been very busy but so exciting.

I had my first two classes and found my office! My first course is in programming and it is taught by a PhD student in CMD named Oksana who is an installation artist doing work that uses technology. She has a show up next week at the University Gallery for Beakerhead. There will also be a lot of tech-based artists at the downtown Beakerhead in the next little bit. (see links below fo more info if you want to come- I highly recommend it!)

In this course we are using a software called "Processing". It is an open source simple programming tool, that was initially developed for artists who wanted to use technology and programming in their work.

In my second course on HCI (Human Computer Interactions) we learned a little about the history of HCI and the basic philosophy behind the design method. HCI approach actually started in the military, in airplane cockpit design. The interface for pilots was becoming so complex that there were accidents and pilots were making many mistakes. Cognitive Psychologists were hired to study the ways the pilots were thinking to help redesign the cockpit to make it more user friendly. This approach was successful and ended up being the foundation of human-based design that we have now. HCI incorporates psychology, anthropology, and ethnography in its methods.

Questions I am struggling with involve taking this approach, which is designed to help people avoid making mistakes, and applying it to architecture. Do we "use" architecture? Or do we experience it? How can we measure if it is working? Presumably it's success or failure is not as easy to measure as a cock pit, or software app...but does that mean there is no way to evaluate it's success?

See you next week. Things are about to get busy!!! Check out the links below. Especially the Moment factory one!

Thanks guys!


LINK ME UP!!!

Oksana!
http://library.ucalgary.ca/beakerhead

Beakerhead
http://beakerhead.com/

cute video about IDEO (HCI) design process
www.youtube.com/watch?v=M66ZU2PCIcM

The history of HCI (academic paper)
Carroll, John M. "Human-computer interaction: psychology as a science of design." Annual Review of Psychology 48 (1997): 61+. Academic OneFile. Web. 9 Sept. 2015.

Totally amazing design project using technology! - please watch!

http://www.momentfactory.com/en/project/street/Foresta_Lumina