Dan Sawada – http://www.dsworld.net
MIT Media Lab, Viral Spaces / MS1

Experience
I have pretty good experience with programming and hacking smartphones (both iOS and Android), as well as other software development in general. I also have very basic DIY electronics skills, as well as DIY furniture and woodcrafts and graphics/web design. However, I have no experience in art or architecture.

Why
The primary goal of taking this course is to learn how to design intuitive and catchy user interfaces for creating compelling research demos. With a background in computer science, I have mainly dealt with decentralized ad-hoc networks for the past few years. Now as being a new M.S. student at the Viral Spaces group, my goal is to create new concepts of how proximal communication between people and devices that are physically could make our lives better. There is no doubt how user interfaces play a major role in creating demos that could strongly influence people. As for the potential project ideas for this class, I wish to collaborate with designers and artists to create something that can replicate the sense of touch (texture, temperature, and stiffness) that has been remotely transmitted. Ultimately, I with to combine this with my potential robot that I’m trying to make in Neil’s MAS.863 class, which can senses and transmit “touch”.

Art
Architecture
Craft/Fabrication
Design
DIY Electronics
Electrical Eng.
Mech. Eng.
Programming/CS

★★★★
★★★★
★★★★
★★★★
★★★★
★★★★
★★★★
★★★★