Expertise
☆☆☆☆ Art
☆☆☆☆ Architecture
★☆☆☆ Craft/Fabrication
★★☆☆ Design
★★★★ DIY Electronics
★★★★ Electrical Eng.
★☆☆☆ Mech. Eng.
★★★★ Programming/CS
Experience
My background is Electronics design. I have an Electrical Engineering degree.
Why
I am interested in pushing the boundaries between physical and virtual interactions. I would like to understand what prior work exists in this field and to explore concepts for future projects.
MIT Masters of Architecture Candidate, Thesis semester
Expertise
★★★★ Art
★★★★ Architecture
☆★★★ Craft/Fabrication
★★★★ Design
☆☆☆★ DIY Electronics
☆☆☆★ Electrical Eng.
☆☆☆★Mech. Eng.
☆☆☆★ Programming/CS
Experience
With an undergraduate degree in Design with a focus in Architecture and being an M.Arch student at MIT, I have gained a wide variety of both digital and analog skills. I started with a background in art (mixed media and photography), from there studied design and architecture for 7 years, and have learned everything from operating manual tools in the woodshop, to graphic design and operating lasercutters, waterjet cutters, and other fabrications machinery and skills. I work in digital programs such as Rhino, Autocad and the Adobe Suite, but also work well with free-hand sketching and modeling. Anything artistic, you name it and I’ve probably dabbled in it!
Why
Since taking several classes in the MIT Media Lab as well as other cross-departmental courses, I have become very interested in learning more about hardware and software, and the interface where design meets technology which in turn meets the human user. With my design background in architecture I feel a strong connection in designing for people, and now I am hoping Tangible Interfaces will allow me the opportunity to learn and harness new skills to understand the digital aspect of human interaction design.
MIT Media Lab, Center for Civic Media
Expertise
☆☆★★ Art
☆☆☆★ Architecture
☆☆☆★ Craft/Fabrication
☆☆★★ Design
☆☆☆★ DIY Electronics
☆☆☆★ Electrical Eng.
☆☆☆★Mech. Eng.
★★★★ Programming/CS
Experience
At the MIT Media lab, I am working on applying machine learning on large-scale journalistic corpora. Prior to MIT, I was a McCormick scholar at Medill (Northwestern) and a fellow at the Globe Media Lab (Boston Globe, NYTCO). I have worked as a software architect and development manager for Bell Canada, leading Business Intelligence and data integration teams in Toronto, Montreal, London (Ontario) and Bangalore. Apart from software engineering and journalism, I have also worked on some small-scale collaborative art projects.
Why
The proliferation of heterogeneous technologies in a digitally connected world requires new ways of using design technology to seamlessly integrate interacting media. I want to understand new forms of human technology interaction that are modular and technologically agnostic; in addition, I am interested in spaces that combine technology, art and design.
hs_yang@media.mit.edu
Speech + Mobility Group MS1 Media Lab
Expertise
★★★★ Art
★★☆☆ Architecture
★★★☆ Craft/Fabrication
★★★★ Design
★☆☆☆ DIY Electronics
★☆☆☆ Electrical Eng.
★★☆☆ Mech. Eng.
★★★★ Programming/CS
Experience
I have a balanced background between media arts and programming. For the arts, I concentrated on digital imaging, video production, 3d modeling, and animation. I have experience in product design and fabrication as well. As for my technical work, my focus is in Augmented Reality, computer graphics and computer vision. I have some background in electrical and mechanical engineering; I have built simple robots in the past.
Why
I believe that having a tangible interface when interacting with devices opens up more realistic and intimate experience to the users than mere mouse clicking and typing. I am interested in creating a new tangible interface (particularly involving media technology) that could make such interaction even more interesting and personal yet practical.
Master of Architecture Candidate, MIT, Year 3 dmiranow@mit.edu
Expertise
★★★★☆ Art
★★★★☆ Architecture
★★★★★ Craft/Fabrication
★★★★☆ Design
★☆☆☆☆ DIY Electronics
★☆☆☆☆ Electrical Eng.
★★☆☆☆ Mech. Eng.
★☆☆☆☆ Programming/CS
Experience
Lots of experience with fabrication and design at a range of scales. I take tremendous pride in my craft and enjoy making things. Strong skills in most fabrication tools- digital and manual. I am reasonably friendly as well 
Why
I am very interested in Tangible Interfaces because I want to sharpen my ability to effectively communicate ideas. I have a deep curiosity in tools and processes, particularly those related to design, and I’d like to use this class to focus and develop these interests much further. Your comment about the ClearBoard being an Isotropic extension really excited me and I think research into the spatiality of interfaces could be very fruitful.
xuw714@mail.harvard.edu
www.xuwang.info
Harvard Graduation School of Education, Ed.M’14
Technology, Innovation and Education program
Expertise
★★★☆ Art
★☆☆☆ Architecture
★★☆☆Craft/Fabrication
★★★☆ Design
☆☆☆☆DIY Electronics
★☆☆☆ Electrical Eng.
★☆☆☆ Mech. Eng.
★★★☆Programming/CS
Experience
My undergraduate is in educational technology, which is a combination of education and computer science. I’ve had experience in developing Augmented Reality-based learning tools and designing educational games. I also took a lot of mathematics courses, and I had experience with data analysis and modeling.
Why
I like the idea of tangible interfaces, and I think it will be fascinating for students to use TUI-based learning tools, when their visual, audio and touching feelings are all involved in the learning process. I want to know more about the application and framework of tangible interfaces and see how to integrate the technology in learning to best serve learning objectives.
artem.dementyev.us
MIT Media Lab, Responsive Environments Group
Expertise
★ Art
★ Architecture
★ Craft/Fabrication
★ Design
★★★ DIY Electronics
★★★★ Electrical Eng.
★★ Mech. Eng.
★★★★ Programming/CS
Experience
I did research in bioengineering (medical wearable devices) and electrical engineering (ubicomp hardware). I have experience in electronics (sensors, analog, RF) and programming of embedded firmware, android, and PC software interfaces.
Why
I want to explore the area of human-computer interfaces for my research. I am interested in new ways to present digital information to humans, especially using physical representations. I want to take the class, because I feel that I lack the experience and formal training in designing of user interfaces. Most of my previous work has been around hardware, and only designing simple user interfaces.
mcx@mit.edu
MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering, Biomimetic Robotics Laboratory
Expertise
★☆☆☆☆ Art
★☆☆☆☆ Architecture
★★★★☆ Craft/Fabrication
★★★☆☆ Design
★★★★★ DIY Electronics
★★★☆☆ Electrical Eng.
★★★★★ Mech. Eng.
★★★☆☆ Programming/CS
Experience
As a mechanical engineer, I am familiar with the use of machine tools such as the drill press, lathe, CNC mill, as well as the 3D printer and laser cutter. I also have experience with mold casting of polymers and use CAD software (Solidworks) and MATLAB extensively in my research. My strong interest in DIY electronics has gained me an understanding of microcontrollers (i.e. Arduino, mbed) and how to interface sensors and actuators with them. I have also laid out and fabricated PCBs.
Why
I am very much interested in new ways of interacting with the digital world, and with the arrival of technologies such as the Microsoft Kinect and Leap Motion, I believe that we will be seeing radical changes in this field in the coming years. Hopefully by taking this class, I will be able to use the information I have learned to further enhance the future of human-robot-interactions.
sangwon@media.mit.edu
www.sangww.net
MIT Media Lab, Fluid Interfaces Group / MS1
Expertise
★★★★ Art
★★★★ Architecture
★★★★ Craft/Fabrication
★★★★ Design
★★★★ DIY Electronics
★★★★ Electrical Eng.
★★★★ Mech. Eng.
★★★★ Programming/CS
Experience
I have EE and Computer Vision background and has worked as a software engineer for 3 years. I developed an open-source DIY gaze-controlled controller for various PC use, and worked on lots of random NUI and Vision-based interaction softwares. Also I had/have strong personal interest in design and music so could be handy in some related stuffs.
Why
I am amazed by movies and stories about the worlds that doesn’t exist, full of magical artifacts and science fictions. I want to bring pieces of such cool stuffs into reality, by combining/intersecting technologies that blur the gap between the digital and physical worlds.
http://iiiss.com
wanli@brandeis.edu
Ashton Graybiel Spatial Orientation Lab, Brain Computer Interface Group / MA2
Expertise
★★★★ Art
★★★★ Architecture
★★★★ Craft/Fabrication
★★★★ Design
★★★★ DIY Electronics
★★★★ Electrical Eng.
★★★★ Mech. Eng.
★★★★ Programming/CS
Experience
This is Wanli, a master student with Computer Science, Software Engineering, and Psychology background. I have experience with artificial intelligence, computer graphics, computer networks, databases, operating systems, and FPGA design. Currently I am developing a Brain-Computer Interface with machine learning algorithms for my thesis.
Why
I am working to apply principles of cognitive psychology to the design of human-computer interfaces, and I am interested in developing wearable devices and tangible products that could materialize digital information or virtualize physical objects.
krj444@mail.harvard.edu
http://krithikajagannath.weebly.com/
Master’s Candidate in Technology, Innovation, and Education (TIE) at Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE)
Expertise
★★★★★ Art
★★★★★ Architecture
★★★★★ Craft/Fabrication
★★★★★ Design
★★★★★ DIY Electronics
★★★★★ Electrical Eng.
★★★★★ Mech. Eng.
★★★★★ Programming/CS
Experience
I’m a Computer Science Engineer with professional work-experience in the areas of Mobile Communications software and Operating Systems. I wrote software (user-interactive applications and protocol engines) for mobile phones. I have some creative interests as well. I have been writing poems in English, to express my imagination and share my observation since the age of ten. I continue to nurture interest in writing, music, dance and the enthusiasm to learn new things such as sewing or photography. I’m constantly inspired by children as I engage in my creative pursuits which include writing poems.
Why
I come to this class with more questions than answers. I’m interested in how HCI, Cognitive Science (Augmented Reality, interactivity, AI) and other new technologies intersect with learning, especially for young learners. I want to use my technical and creative skills to design and make meaningful learning opportunities for people. I find myself asking what new (non-digital) objects or experiences could we create to keep children just as engaged in learning as they are when they use digital devices these days. I hope to experiment some ideas in this dimension through the course. At the same time, I also want to explore the possibilities of creating fresh experiences using new digital interfaces. I look forward to integrating this course with my motto in life: Observe, Share and Grow!
mkh@media.mit.edu
www.moixd.com
MIT Media Lab, Changing Places Group / MS1
Expertise
★★★★ Art
★★★★ Architecture
★★★★ Craft/Fabrication
★★★★ Design
★★★★ DIY Electronics
★★★★ Electrical Eng.
★★★★ Mech. Eng.
★★★★ Programming/CS
Experience
I have a Computer Engineering and HCI background. For the past two years, I worked in a research institute designing and developing web-based collaborative planning interfaces. These tools assist decision makers in planning complex infrastructures collaboratively.
Why
Learning more about tangible bits and radical atoms, is my first goal. Then, I want to discover and think of new ways to interact with big data to support decision makers in collaboratively making better informed decisions using modeling, simulation and volumetric displays, or maybe something else…
dosanchz@mit.edu
cargocollective.com/douglasosanchez
MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering / BS4
Expertise
★ Art
★ Architecture
★★★ Craft/Fabrication
★★★★ Design
★★★ DIY Electronics
★ Electrical Eng.
★★★★ Mech. Eng.
★★ Programming/CS
Experience
I am studying Mechanical Engineering with a concentration in Product Design. My education is in engineering but I have an extensive knowledge of Graphic Design and Typography. I am an Adobe Illustrator Certified Expert and can communication visually better than verbally. Most of the products I have made in the last couple years have been for visually disabled users.
Why
I use CAD software in everything I do from making a poster to making a product. The common ways to interact with these programs is still based on point and click mouses. For the health of my hands, since most of my work involves being in front of a computer screen, I want to explore new ways to work on computers. I want to find more natural and healthy ways to design.
phil_s@media.mit.edu
www.bimster.com
MIT Media Lab, Tangible Media Group / MS1
Expertise
★★★★ Art
★★ Architecture
★★★ Craft/Fabrication
★★★★ Design
★★★ DIY Electronics
★★★ Electrical Eng.
★★ Mech. Eng.
★★★★ Programming/CS
Experience
As an Interaction Designer I have a broad overview, knowledge and understanding of almost all of the listed domains. I would consider my best skills to be 3D modelling (3dsmax, Rhino), Electronics (Arduino and other Microcontrollers and Sensors) and Programming (C++, Java, AS3)
Why
Being a student in the Tangible Media Group I consider this course mandatory to fully and deeply understand about TMG’s vision, also it’s history and future. Ideally I hope to develop Ideas and concepts in this class that have the potential for further research at TMG.
mdegen@gsd.harvard.edu
www.mdegen.com
Harvard GSD, MDesS Technology
Expertise
★★☆☆ Art
★★★★ Architecture
★★★★ Craft/Fabrication
★★★★ Design
★★☆☆ DIY Electronics
★☆☆☆ Electrical Eng.
★☆☆☆ Mech. Eng.
★★☆☆ Programming/CS
Experience
My experience comes from a background in architecture and industrial design. I am well versed in sketching and representational arts, as well as hand based and digital fabrication techniques. Over the course of the past year I have been studying responsive technologies, including programming and DIY electronics.
Why
I am interested in the bridge between the physical and digital and how this can be altered. It is my intention to learn more about interaction design and tangible interfaces, with the goal of mediating this divide.
jhtucker@gsd.harvard.edu
http://tinyurl.com/jhtportfolio
Harvard Graduate School of Design, MDesS Technology
Expertise
★★★☆☆ Art
★★★★☆ Architecture
★★★★☆ Craft/Fabrication
★★★★☆ Design
★★★☆☆ DIY Electronics
★☆☆☆☆ Electrical Eng.
★☆☆☆☆ Mech. Eng.
★★☆☆☆ Programming/CS
Experience
I have a professional degree in architecture and my undergraduate contained a lot of work revolving around digital fabrication and new tools for design. Over the past two years I have more recently been utilizing micro-controllers, sensors, and computation in order to advance in potentials within my design. Overall, I would place my strengths in design, mechanisms, fabrication, and DIY electronic platforms.
Why
I am interested in this class because my past work in robotics, architecture, and technology have built into a passion for interactive and responsive environments. Most of my past work has involved interfaces at the GUI and TUI level but feel that my lack of knowledge on the subject of interfaces has not allowed for their full potential. I am excited about the opportunity to ground myself in research and advance my knowledge towards radical atoms and better interfaces for my interactive installations.
cindykao [attt] media.mit.edu
www.media.mit.edu/~cindykao
MIT Media Lab, Speech+Mobility / MS1
Expertise
★★★☆ Art
★☆☆☆ Architecture
★☆☆☆ Craft/Fabrication
★★★☆ Design
★★☆☆ DIY Electronics
★☆☆☆ Electrical Eng.
★☆☆☆ Mech. Eng.
★★★★ Programming/CS
Experience
Trained for 5+ years as a computer scientist, I have wide ranging skills in programming languages and research experience in Ubiquitous Computing and Wireless Sensor Networks. Stemming from my artistic interests, I’ve have training in sketch, watercolor and Chinese calligraphy since I was a child. These two interests have led me to participate in several interaction design projects, from where I gained experience in DIY electronics and design.
Why
I am interested in creating communication technologies with a good sense of humans, and the humanities. Tangibility is the way we learn and experience the world as children, and it still processes a certain magic and familiarity to us as we get older. I hope to expand the communication interface off the screen and onto the physical environment around us, and to explore novel communication opportunities. I hope to create objects for communication that leverage our five senses, and help us express the ambiguous and the poetic.
hkim@gsd.harvard.edu
Harvard Graduate School of Design, Master in Design Studies / Technology
Expertise
★★★★ Art
☆☆★★ Architecture
☆★★★ Craft/Fabrication
★★★★ Design
☆☆☆★ DIY Electronics
☆☆☆★ Electrical Eng.
☆☆☆★Mech. Eng.
☆☆☆★ Programming/CS
Portfolio
http://issuu.com/heaminkim/docs/hea_min_kim_harvad_gsd_mdes
Experience
I have studies industrial design in B.F.A. I have very talented to express my idea within in drawing or computation design. In this class, I can purse to find new fuse realm of digital fabrication, art and design. I have worked a several design company such as furniture design lab and exhibition company for internship.
Why
In the 21st century, people’s perception is rooted in a variety of media. There is the media we experience, and there is the media we imagine. Through all of these media come the images and writings we receive. In the 21st century, there is no pure imagination resulting without media. This is because media directly informs people’s experience. In this way, media immensely impacts our ways of thinking. Media is not simply the physical or nonphysical tools, equipment or installation. Rather, the power of media rests in its potential to produce new phenomena and generate new terms of expression to describe the world around us. I believe this contributes the expansion of mans.
People today are already mixed with media and they live in smart environments. All of them develop new communication language with digital interfaces in order to get information. With regards to the smart environment, the important problem worth considering is how this sort of technology acts a mechanism to facilitate communication between people as well as how it fuses with our lives in order to do so. I believe we have to consider two points to have successful communication with new environments based on technology. First, we need to understand how digital interfaces curve our logic and perception of environments. How this phenomenon change the people perception about materials. Second, we have to understand human’s fundamental emotion and deep purpose of their behavior. Understanding of people is very important in digital environment because this can lead people to use their full of sense and thinking.
My main research purpose is that the ways in which people’s senses are stimulated by an emotional factor embedded within digital environments. In this point, the most important is the system of using technology rather than technology itself. I believe that we have already developed technology, but the problem is we do not know how to organize or communicate this technology properly.
M.S. Candidate (YR 1)
Tangible Media Group
Media Lab
Expertise
★★★☆ Art
★☆☆☆ Architecture
★★★☆ Craft/Fabrication
★★★☆ Design
★★★★ DIY Electronics
★★★☆ Electrical Eng.
★★☆☆ Mech. Eng.
★★★☆ Programming/CS
Experience
I studied Digital Media in Bremen, Germany. In my first year of studies I earned a firm knowledge in Programming. Afterwards I had the possibility to create some design and art projects in which course I taught myself some Electronics and Mechanical Engineering skills.
Why
Originally I became interested in the field of tangible interaction out of the frustration of interacting with pixels behind the screen. The human body has a great variety of senses and not using them means leaving a great potential for great experience and better interaction untapped. I started exploring physical interactions with embodied data with an emphasis on the playful character of tangible interfaces.
As new part of the Tangible Media Group I see this class as the opportunity to collaborate with people from different backgrounds on my field of research. I am very curious to see the various perspectives from other other peoples and hope to create interesting synergies.
amirl [at] media [dot] mit [dot] edu
media.mit.edu/~amirl
MIT Media Lab, Viral Spaces / MS1
Expertise
★☆☆☆ Art
★☆☆☆ Architecture
★★☆☆ Craft/Fabrication
★★☆☆ Design
★★☆☆ DIY Electronics
★☆☆☆ Electrical Eng.
★☆☆☆ Mech. Eng.
★★★★ Programming/CS
Experience
Four years experience with programming to mobile devices. Over the last year i’ve started playing with micro controllers and simple electronics building things that communicate with our mobiles.
Why
Learning about tangible interfaces and radical atoms intrigues me. I came to draw inspiration for my research and open my mind to new fields.
gbernal[at]mit[dot]edu
http://cargocollective.com/studiobernal
MIT SA+P, Design and Computation
Hello World!!, My name is Guillermo and I’m a student in the design and computation group in the Architecture Department.
Expertise
★★★☆ Art
★★★★Architecture
★★★★ Craft/Fabrication
★★★★ Design
★★★☆ DIY Electronics
★★★☆ Electrical Eng.
★☆☆☆ Mech. Eng.
★★★☆ Programming/CS
Experience
My background and interests include strong leanings towards the responsive environment, DIY fabrication and programming. Since I started at MIT, I have focused my studies in the relation between the physical world and the digital. Prior MIT, I joined Evan Douglis Studio and RPI, where I specialized in advance digital fabrication and algorithmic design.
Why
My interests run the gamut…which means I’m always trying to bring together different disciplines with the hope, that it will generate novel outputs.
pvanhoof@mit.edu
www.parUchute.com
MIT Sloan, MBA 2014 / Entrepreneurship & Innovation – focus on media entertainment, technology and venture capital
Expertise
★★★☆ Art
★☆☆☆ Architecture
★★☆☆ Craft/Fabrication
★★★★ Design
☆☆☆☆ DIY Electronics
☆☆☆☆ Electrical Eng.
☆☆☆☆ Mech. Eng.
★☆☆☆ Programming/CS
★★★★ Innovation Management/Product Development
Experience
I’m a second-year MBA student who spent the (2013) summer doing an internship in Strategic Planning & Analytics for the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. Before coming to MIT I was an entrepreneur in Product Design and Innovation Consulting, leading teams of designers and engineers to develop physical and digital consumer products. From 2007 to 2011 I worked for the Treasury Department in the Netherlands, where I was responsible for various public-private investments, government shareholdings and privatizations. I completed the diplomat training program at the Dutch Foreign Service (2009) and spent a summer (2010) seconded to the Dutch embassy in Beijing where I researched the innovation / R&D ecosystem in China. In 2005/2006 I ran the first Dutch start-up accelerator program. I graduated from the VU University in Amsterdam with an MS in Business Science, with electives focusing on Industrial Design taken at the Eindhoven University of Technology. I completed several part-time courses in Fine Arts, 3D animation production and filmmaking.
Why
I am very interested in the area in which physical products, media and technology intersect. Tangible Interfaces is one of those very promising big ideas, that I can only get exposure to here at MIT / Media Lab. I hope to learn about – and contribute to – concept development, application design and user experience.
nighthil [at] mit [dot] edu
nighthill.tumblr.com
MIT Comparative Media Studies / Writing, Graduate Program in Science Writing / MS1
Expertise
★★★★ Art
★★★★ Architecture
★★★★ Craft/Fabrication
★★★★ Design
★★★★ DIY Electronics
★★★★ Electrical Eng.
★★★★ Mech. Eng.
★★★★ Programming/CS
Experience
2D (pixel and vector art/animation, ink & paper illustration, comix) and 3D art theory & practice (3D modeling & animation, sculpture). Studied architecture for about a year: CAD, hand drafting, models, etc. Studied classical music for several years: theory & analysis, composition, performance, and some physics. Textile and paper arts, metal sculpture. Hypermedia, web, and game design, and the tiniest bit of programming experience with BASIC and C++.
But mainly I’m a writer.
Why
I am interested in the potential for tangible/ambient interactive media for educational settings such as museums and schools.
basheer@media.mit.edu
madeby.basheertome.com
MIT Media Lab, Tangible Media Group / MS1
Expertise
★★★☆ Art
★☆☆☆ Architecture
★★★☆ Craft/Fabrication
★★★★ Design
★★☆☆ DIY Electronics
☆☆☆☆ Electrical Eng.
☆☆☆☆ Mech. Eng.
★★☆☆ Programming/CS
Experience
Prior to joining the Media Lab, I studied Industrial Design at Georgia Tech and worked at Google in various capacities from user experience design on the Hangouts video chat application to interaction research for Google[x] on Glass, designing both software and hardware to prototype new digital and physical interactions.
Why
I’m interested in better face-to-face interactions in co-collaborative contexts, remote collaboration, and exploring progressive personalization and adaptation in devices and interfaces, from digital to physical.
tonytang@media.mit.edu
www.tonytang2009.com
MIT Media Lab, Tangible Media Group / MS1
Expertise
★★★★ Art
★★★★ Architecture
★★★★ Craft/Fabrication
★★★★ Design
★★★★ DIY Electronics
★★★★ Electrical Eng.
★★★★ Mech. Eng.
★★★★ Programming/CS
Experience
I got architecture design, computational design and HCI backgrounds, and did a bit programming and electronic hacking.
Why
I would like to explore potential territories of tangible media and interface based on current definitions and research results conducted by Tangible Media Group of MIT Media Lab for the past decades. Based on my interests, tangible interface in your mind and communicative smart materials could be two directions to dig into!
jifei@media.mit.edu
ou-jifei.com
MIT Media Lab, Tangible Media Group / MS2
Expertise
★★★★ Art
★★★★ Architecture
★★★★ Craft/Fabrication
★★★★ Design
★★★★ DIY Electronics
★★★★ Electrical Eng.
★★★★ Mech. Eng.
★★★★ Programming/CS
Experience
Prior to the Media Lab, I was studying product design in Germany. I have a firm background on form-giving and form language. I have been also playing & experimenting electronics and programming for 3 years.
Why
to develop my own vision of human-technology interaction. I’m very interested how bodily engagement could be integrated in digital storytelling.