Info:

This class focusses on fundamentals of interaction by changing the traditional users of our technologies. Throughout the course, my fellow students and I will look at sensory systems of various animals ranging from bats, bees, sharks and more. We will observe how animals and birds experience or navigate the world and will draw a parallel in the human world and build devices with two primary aims:

i) to understand and connect with wildlife,
ii) to augment and build new dimensional experiences for humans.

The fundamentals of Human-Centered Design provide us with a framework to develop solutions by involving human in all aspects of problem solving. But what if the users of technologies were not humans? How would we design interfaces meant for mental health stimulation of animals? By learning radically different sensory experiences and dialogues from animals, could we also design novel interfaces for humans?

Syllabus:

There will be weekly lectures from zoologists and animal experts. The class will have weekly readings, assignments and projects for students to support their hypothesis. The students are expected to have prior prototyping abilities to rapidly iterate their solutions in this intensive course. We intend to have a mix of students from different disciplines in this class. A select number of students from the class may be chosen to deploy and test their final projects at the San Diego Zoo’s naturalistic setting. The students may also have opportunities to continue working with the Zoo beyond the course.