HCI Engineering Group

6.810
Engineering Interactive Technologies (fall 2020)

Class content: Provides instruction in building cutting-edge interactive technologies, explains the underlying engineering concepts, and shows how those technologies evolved over time. Students use a studio format (i.e., extended periods of time) for constructing software and hardware prototypes. Topics include interactive technologies, such as multi-touch, augmented reality, haptics, wearables, and shape-changing interfaces. In a group project, students build their own interactive hardware/software prototypes and present them in a live demo at the end of term.

Previous Offerings: If you are interested to see the course schedule for the previous offering, you can find it here fall 2018 (note that I was on sabbatical fall 2019 so the course was not offered last year). While 2020 will build onto this material, we are significantly revising the materials and will post updates here soon.

Requirement to be on Campus in Fall 2020:

Note that this is an on-campus lab course. What this means is that some course activities, such as fabricating prototypes, will happen on campus. Thus, in fall 2020 this course is not open for students who cannot be on campus or who do not feel comfortable coming in to participate in workshop activities. We are sorry that there is no option to participate remotely but the learning objectives for this course cannot be achieved without hands-on activities done in a workshop environment. For the students who are on campus and are considering taking this course, our current plan is that all the lectures will be done online and all labs will be done remotely from your room, but that whenever you need to fabricate something for a lab or pset you will come to the workshop for short periods of time, then take the fabricated parts and return back to your room. When you come in to fabricate parts, there will be a member of the teaching staff with you in the workshop to explain how the fabrication process works. For students who need to quarantine for short periods of time (e.g. 1-2 weeks), we will fabricate the parts for you according to your design file and bring them to your dorm. Lectures will be synchronous. Labs will be asynchronous, i.e. you work on them from your dorm room and come to an OH in person or virtually if you need help. For the group project, we will continue social distancing, i.e. you will mostly work on the group project individually from your dorm room and reach out to team members via zoom, slack and other communication channels. If the prototype only has low-cost parts, each team member will build their own copy. If the prototype involves expensive parts, there is an option that only one or two team members build a hardware prototype and the other team members work on the software for the project.

Communication

In class: Zoom and Slack (workspace: 6810-2020)
Outside of class: Piazza

Grading

Lab Check-Offs and Home Works (20%)
Problem Sets (40%)
Open Ended Project (40%)
no exams or nano quizzes

Tutorials:

Laser Cutting recommended drawing programs creating a drawing for laser cutting operating the laser cutter	Conductive Inkjet Printing preparing the circuit drawing inkjet printing the circuit 2D printer and silver cartridges	Spraying preparing the spray inks safety wear and spraying cleaning the airbrush
3D Printing slicing a 3D model operating the 3D Printer

Schedule

Week	Date	Room	Class	Notes
	Sept 2 (wed)	Zoom ID: 954 5595 1363, dorm	Lecture: Course Overview PDF PPT KEY Lecture: Printed Electronics: Fabrication PDF PPT KEY Lecture: Finding Future Interactive Technologies PDF PPT KEY HW released (due friday): Create 2 slides to introduce yourself, use template in your student google drive folder HW released (due tuesday): Find Your Favorite 5 projects from UIST HW released (due tuesday): Read Inkjet Circuits paper, fill out form HW released (due tuesday): Read and Sign EDS safety handout, upload to your google drive
	Sept 4 (fr)	Zoom ID: 954 5595 1363, dorm	HW due 12.30pm: Create 2 slides to introduce yourself Lecture: Sensing (Buttons, Sliders, Multi-Touch) PDF PPT KEY Lecture: Laser Cutting: Materials, Tips & Tricks PDF PPT KEY Introduce Yourself: 1 min per person (all slides here) HW released (due next friday): Design and Laser Cut Business Card HW released (due Sept. 16): Form a team of 4 students, add team here
2	Sept 8 (tue)	no lecture (first day students on campus)	HW due: Find Your Favorite 5 projects from UIST HW due: Read Inkjet Circuits paper, fill out form No lectures this week: Work on Lab 1 + Lab 2, and Homework Laser Cut Business Card remotely, they are all due this friday. Book an OH slot to fabricate your parts. Have any questions answered on slack.
	Lab 1 + Lab 2	no lecture	Pick-Up Hardware: Find Location and Time here Install: Arduino with ESP Board Manager Install: Processing and (recommended) do the getting started tutorial Lab 1 release (due friday): Conductive Inkjet Printing + Sensing Touch Lab 2 release (due friday): Microcontroller Sending Data + Processing For fabrication, please book an office hour slot here.
	Sept 11 (fr)	no lecture	Lab 1 due: Conductive Inkjet Printing + Sensing Touch Lab 2 due: Microcontroller Sending Data + Processing HW due: Design and Laser Cut Business Card
3	Sept 16 (wed)	Zoom ID: 954 5595 1363	Lecture: review of homework business card PDF PPT KEY Lecture: review of lab1/2 inkjet printed card PDF PPT KEY Lecture: review of reading inkjet printed circuits paper PDF PPT KEY Lecture: Sensing: Rotation, Elongation, Shape PDF PPT KEY Pset1 released: Multi-Touch: Circuit Design HW released (due tuesday): Read and Sign IDC safety handout, upload to your google drive
	Sept 18 (fr)	Zoom ID: 954 5595 1363, dorm	Lecture: Printed Electronics: Displays PDF PPT KEY HW released: Read Sprayable UI paper, fill out form HW released: Check your Spray Time for Lab 3 on wednesday Find Team Partners due: Let us know your team
4	Sept 23 (wed)	no lecture, spray at IDC	HW due: Check your Spray Time for Lab 3 Lab 3: Spraying and Control of EL Displays
	Sept 25 (fr)	no lecture	Pset1 due (original deadline): Multi-Touch Pad: Circuit Design Lab3 due: Spraying and Control of EL Displays HW due: Read Sprayable UI paper, fill out form Group Project Idea released: Brainstorming Ideas, add one idea per slide (10 total) in 'idea presentation' of your team's google drive folder)	Fall Career Fair
5	Sept 30 (wed)	Zoom ID: 954 5595 1363, dorm	Pset1 due (extended deadline): Multi-Touch Pad: Circuit Design Lecture: Review of homework spraying displays PDF PPT KEY Lecture: Printed Elect.: Actuation + Communication PDF PPT KEY Lecture: 3D Printing for Making Interactive Devices PDF PPT KEY Pset2 released: Multi-Touch: Sensing Multi-Touch
	Oct 2 (fr)	no lecture	Lab 4: (due next wednesday) Interactive Mug: Circuit on 3D Surface HW: Install 3D Editor Blender + Do Blender Getting Started Tutorials	Add Date
6	Oct 7 (wed)	Zoom ID: 954 5595 1363	Lab 4 due: Interactive Mug: Circuit on 3D Surface Group Project Idea due: finish slides with 10 ideas, one idea per slide Present Ideas due: present top 3 ideas in class using your idea slides (4 min per team = 45 min) Lecture: 3D Printing continued
	Oct 9 (fr)	no lecture	Pset2 due: Multi-Touch: Sensing Multi-Touch HW due: Do Blender Getting Started Tutorials Lab 5 (due next wednesday): 3D Modeling and 3D Printing
7	Oct 14 (wed)	Zoom ID: 954 5595 1363	Lab 5 due: 3D Modeling and 3D Printing Lecture: Multi-Touch Technology History and Future PDF PPT KEY Pset3 released: Multi-Touch: Processing Visualization
	Oct 16 (fr)	no lecture	Technical Proposal due: finalize technical proposal (use google docs in your team's google drive folder here) Lab 6: Conductive Textiles
8	Oct 21 (wed)	Zoom ID: 954 5595 1363	Lecture: Brain-Computer + Electro-Muscle Interfaces PDF PPT KEY	virtual UIST
	Oct 23 (fr)	no lecture, team meetings	Pset3 due: Multi-Touch: Processing Visualization Milestone 1 due: upload milestone 1 videos to google drive Staff Feedback for Project: 8 teams x 20 min per team	virtual UIST
9	Oct 28 (wed)	Zoom ID: 954 5595 1363	Lab 6 due (extended, new due date Nov 11): Conductive Textiles Lecture: Haptics and Force FeedbackPDF PPT KEY Pset4 released: Multi-Touch: Gesture Detection
	Oct 30 (fr)	no lecture, team meetings	Milestone 2 due: upload milestone 2 videos to google drive Staff Feedback for Project: 8 teams x 20 min per team Rotoscope released: Draw your Multi-Touch Pad
10	Nov 4 (wed)	Zoom ID: 954 5595 1363	Day after Election Day. Avoid assignment due dates. Lecture: How to Pitch your Group Project to the Press
	Nov 6 (fr)	no lecture, team meetings	Pset4 due: Multi-Touch: Gesture Detection Milestone 3 due: upload milestone 3 videos to google drive Staff Feedback for Project: 8 teams x 20 min per team Photos released: Photos: Taking High Quality Pictures with Backdrops
11	Nov 11 (wed)	Zoom ID: 954 5595 1363	Public Holiday, no class	Veterans day
	Nov 13 (fr)	no lecture, team meetings	Midterm Presentation (includes milestone 4 progress): 7 minutes per team (8 teams x 7 min = 56 min), use the 'midterm presentation' slide template in your team's google drive folder) Rotoscope due: Draw your Multi-Touch Pad Video released: Video Recording and Editing	Nov 19: Drop Date
12	Nov 18 (wed)	Zoom ID: 954 5595 1363	Lab 6 due: Conductive Textiles Lecture: Health Sensing PDF PPT KEY
	Nov 20 (fr)	no lecture, team meetings	Photos due: Photos: Taking High Quality Pictures with Backdrops Video due: Video Recording and Editing Milestone 5 due: upload milestone 5 videos to google drive Staff Feedback for Project: 8 teams x 20 min per team
13	Nov 25 (wed)	students not on campus	no class, Extended Thanksgiving Break	no assignments can be due
	Nov 27 (fr)	students not on campus	no class, Extended Thanksgiving Break	no assignments can be due
14	Dec 2 (wed)	Zoom ID: 954 5595 1363	Lecture: Augmented Reality Technology PDF PPT KEY Lecture: Sound Interfaces PDF PPT KEY
	Dec 4 (fr)	no lecture, team meetings	Milestone 6 due: upload milestone 6 videos to google drive Staff Feedback for Project: 8 teams x 20 min per team	there may be max one assignment due between today and the end of the last class
15	Dec 9 (wed)	Zoom ID: 954 5595 1363	Final Presentations due: 7 min per team (8 teams x 7 minutes = 56 minutes), use final presentation slides in your google drive, include rotoscope, photo, and video of your project.	last day of classes: Dec 10

Course Tools

Zoom |

slack |

Google drive

Ordering Parts

enter parts into this spreadsheet

Staff

Prof. Stefanie Mueller (Instructor)
Michael Wessely (Co-Instructor)
Junyi Zhu (TA)
Mihir Trivedi (LA)
Joshua Verdejo (Student-LA)

Enrollment: limited to 35 students

Where: on Zoom, at EDS (38-501) and at IDC (N52-337)

When: Wed and Fri 1.00 - 2.30pm
Prerequisits: 6.08 and one of 6.031, 6.111, 6.115,
or instructor permission
Class Type: AUS, AUS2, II (Independent Inquiry)

Office Hours

For grading + logistics questions, go to an instructor OH.
For engineering questions, go to an TA/LA OH.

Instructor OH: Please send Prof. Mueller an email and she is happy to setup a meeting with you.

TA OH:
These will be held either in the IDC or EDS workshop.
Before coming to an OH, you need to sign up for a slot.
The sign up sheet is linked in the main class schedule at the beginning of each week.

Description how to get to the IDC
Monday: 7-9pm Mihir (LA) (only slack on Sept. 7)
Tuesday: 7-9pm Mihir (LA) + Joshua (LA)
Wednesday: 7-9pm Junyi (TA)
Thursday: 7-9pm Joshua (LA) + Mihir (LA)
Friday: no OH

Project Materials

every student gets $50 (team of 2 students = $100)
fill out this google spreadsheet to order parts

Administrative

Questions during the course:

before coming to an OH, please post on Piazza
OHs are run on the 6.810 slack workspace, i.e. during an OH the teaching team will be online on slack
once you posted on slack during the OH, we will call you via slack video messaging
go to a TA OH for building oriented questions
go to an instructor OH for logistical / grading questions
please do not send us emails

Late Policy:

labs: labs have an automatic 5 day extension, i.e. if you didn't finish lab1 during the class time (Sept. 11), you have until (Sept. 16) to complete it; labs build on each other so make sure you finish the previous lab before we do the next one to not fall behind. If the lab is still not completed after the one week extension, we apply the same point deduction as for psets (see below).
psets: 1-2 days late (20% off), 3-4 days late (40% off), 5-6 days late (60% off), 7 or more days late (80% off)
group project: no extensions, if one team member cannot make it the rest of the team needs to fill in, this applies to all milestones and the idea, midterm, and final presentation.
if you have to self-quarantine, are otherwise sick, or travel for a job interview, please see below for exceptions.

Self-Quarantine Policy:

if you have been asked to self-quarantine or if you feel you are showing any of the Covid-19 symptoms, please post privately Piazza to let us know that you cannot come in
rather than asking you to come in to fabricate your files, we will fabricate them for you and bring them to your dorm so you can continue working from your room once you feel better

Sick Policy:

ask your S3 dean to get in touch with us
post privately on Piazza and explain the circumstances

Leave Policy for Job Interviews:

if you cannot attend class because of a job interview, please post privately on Piazza and include the job interview invitation and airplane tickets or other proof of travel and we will try to accomondate you as much as possible

Collaboration Policy:

except for your group project, all labs and problem sets are individual efforts
your need to build all the hardware yourself, create all underlying manufacturing files yourself, and write all the code yourself
we use the same policy as 6.031 uses, you can read it in full detail here

Enrollment vs. Listener:

since this is a hands-on building class, we do not allow students to attend as Listeners
for fall 2020, we require students to be on-campus and be willing to come to the workshop for short periods of time to fabricate parts

6.810 Engineering Interactive Technologies (fall 2020)