Friday 9:30 am to 12:00 pm, Spring 2012

Office hours starting Wednesday at 1:30 pm

What do you want your world to look like? This class will focus on creating the future by appropriating new technologies with openFrameworks. openFrameworks is a C++ toolkit designed by a global community of media artists, with an emphasis on real time interaction. Because it's C++, it provides an easy bridge to a huge variety of low level tools like OpenCV and FaceTracker -- which makes it easier to develop otherwise impossible projects, like the EyeWriter, or to explore cutting-edge ideas like real time face substitution. In this class, we'll work with technologies surrounding face tracking, eye tracking, 3d scanning, computer security, privacy, and sharing. We'll spend a lot of time understanding the intricacies of openFrameworks, with the goal of creating seamless, mind-blowing experiments, installations, and performance pieces that hijack new technologies to create the future we want to see. Prerequisites: A deep love for code, an intense passion for democratization of technology, and the ability to geek out when necessary. Or, at least, Introduction to Computational Media. This two-point course will meet in the first seven weeks of the semester.

Outside class discussion will be held on the mailing list.

In class, we will keep a backchannel on IRC at #appnewtech on irc.freenode.net. If you don't have an IRC client, I recommend Colloquy, or using the Freenode webchat.

This is just an overview. For more information about each week, including student-contributed information, see the class wiki.

We'll look at a lot of examples of appropriation to get a feeling for how the class will go.

This week we're going to talk about faces: detection, recognition, and tracking.

All about 3d: scanning, interaction, visualization.

Glitches, and appropriating failure.

Eye tracking and gaze estimation, blink detection.

There will be assignments given at the end of the first four weeks, and a final project for the last two weeks.

In order to pass the class, students must complete the assignments, the final project, and attend class. A student will fail if they miss more than one class, miss more than one assignment, or fail to present a completed final project.

In order to receive feedback, the assignments must be handed in before the following class. Late assignments are completely acceptable, but they will not receive feedback.