Collective Play Spring 18 Syllabus -- Work-in-progress

• Wednesdays 12:10-3:05PM in Room 20
• Mimi Yin, [email protected]
• Office Hours Signup

See course description below.

Resources

• Class Google Group. I will be adding you after the first class.
• Class Google Drive Folder. Resources from class, assignments.
• All code examples will be pushed to this github repo.
• Most code examples will also be available in the p5 web editor.

Tools

• p5.js | Reference | Web Editor
• Atom Editor
• Atom Live Server Package
• Node Server

Design Strategy 1: Every man for himself

Week 1: Hello World: Real-time Inputs

Question(s)

• What is collective play?
• How is collective interaction different from individual interaction?
• How do you know you've designed a successful interaction?
• Is "willingness to participate" a personality trait?
• Is this a programming class?

In-Class

• Exercise: Hands
• Overview of Design Patterns
• Tech Tutorials
  • Setting up you local development environment
  • CLI - Command Line Interface
  • Atom Editor and Atom Live Server Package
  • Websockets
  • Node Server
• Code Examples
  • Sending real-time inputs: mouse + keyboard, phone sensors, mic level
  • Sending inputs with a username
  • Keeping track of inputs by id
  • Separating inputs and outputs with namespaces
  • Normalizing data across clients
• Resources
  • explainshell.com: Shell commands deconstructed.
  • Shiffman: Node
  • Beginner’s Guide to Node (more advanced topics)
  • Socket.IO - Get Started
  • Socket.IO - Emit cheatsheet
  • Mozilla Developers Network

Assignment: Hello World

• Brainstorm Inputs
• Sign-up to implement 2 inputs.
• Bring 5 things to draw with next week.
• Wear clothes you can get dirty...forever.

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Week 2: Expressive Outputs

Question(s)

• What does it mean to be expressive?
• What are the parameters of expression in:
  • Painting
  • Spoken Word
  • Singing

In-Class

• Exercise: Collective Drawing
• Collecting the next layer of input (ie. meta-data)
• Code Examples:
  • Pollacky
  • Texteoke
  • Finger Drumming
• Links
  • How to paint like Jackson Pollack
  • Laura Krudener
  • Paper by fiftythree

Assignment: Express yourself

• Re-work your hello world example to be more expressive
• Please bring ear-bud headphones for your mobile device to class next week.

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Week 3: Meaningful Outputs

Question(s)

• What does it mean to be meaningful?
• Semantics is the study of the meaning of words or lexical meaning. What about non-lexical semantics?

In-Class

• Setting up a semantic framework.
• Exercise: Whose Line Is It Anyway?! - Party Quirks
• Code Example:
  • Harmonium
  • Albers Choral Wheel
• Demo: Walking and Falling on the Noise Field

Assignment: Say what you mean

• Groups of 3: Create a semantic framework for 1 of your expressive projects.

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Week 4: User-test / Crit Semantic Expression Assignment

Preview Partnering

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Design Strategy 2: Pairing

Week 5: Influence or Interference?

Question(s)

• When does influence turn into interference?
• Is it more fun to cooperate or undermine?
• Are you more or less honest when you're anonymous?

In-Class

• Exercises:
  • Human Ouija Board
  • Human Curling
  • Scarf Play
• Mashing up inputs into pairs.
  • Examples
    • Synchronized Magic Eight
    • Scr-ong
    • Anonymous speed-dating

Assignment: Mash-up

• Groups of 4: Don't start from scratch. Try mashing-up 2 of your projects.

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Week 6: User-test / Crit Mash-up Assignment

Preview Queuing

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Design Strategy 3: Queuing

Week 7: Waiting versus Anticipating

Question(s)

• What's the difference between taking turns and having a conversation?

In-Class

• Keeping track of who's turn it is
• Example: Dear John
• Taking turns drawing, writing text, making noise.

Assignment

• Groups of 3: Make a queuing project.

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Design Strategy 4: Group Effort

Week 8: Losing the Individual to the Group

Questions

• Why bother singing if your voice can't be heard?
• Are crowds smarter than individuals?
• Which is better? Survival of the fittest? Or No ant left behind.
• Does democracy = inclusion?

In-Class

• Exercises:
  • The Wave and other ways to conduct crowds
  • How many jelly beans are in the jar?
  • Where's Waldo
• Code Examples
  • The Red Balloon
    • Re-shaping the distribution curve of participation: Max, min, mean and median: 4 ways to compute group effort.
    • The Joy of Synchronicity
  • Youtube Survivor
    • Voting Schemes

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Weeks 9-12: Final Project Development

• Week 9 Critique Proposals
• Week 10 User-Test Group A
• Week 11 User-Test Group B
• Week 12 Final Presentations

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Course description

Rules of play shape competitive games from checkers to football. But how do the rules of interaction shape non-competitive play? In this course, we will explore, code and test design strategies for playful group interactions.

Some of the questions we will ask and attempt to answer:

• What encourages participation?
• Can we work together as a group if “every man is for himself”?
• When does influence turn into interference?
• Are leaders necessary? Is it possible to lead from behind?
• What’s the difference between taking turns and having a conversation?
• What participate if individual effort is subsumed under collective output?
• Does democracy = inclusion?
• What happens when the slowest person sets the pace?

Interaction inputs we will play with will include: mouse, keyboard, mobile device sensors, and microphone. Outputs will include, visuals, text and sound. We will use p5, websockets and node.js for real-time interaction. Class time will be split between playing with and critiquing examples and translating design strategies into code and logic.

Pre-requisites

ICM or the equivalent.

Grading

• 40% for showing up (on time!) and participating with curiosity and enthusiasm.
• 40% for homework.
• 20% for the final project.
• More than 2 unexcused absences qualifies you for a failure.
• 2 lateness of 15 minutes or more qualifies as 1 unexcused absence.