Project 2

The industrial design students at TU/e are expected to be able to integrate specified technologies in a design process in societal contexts. The department of ID was started with a strong focus on creative electronics given the regional industrial needs when the department started. Throughout the years, many new forms of technological innovations have taken place. We have the responsibility to teach ID students with future-proof skills to design meaningful and responsible products, systems and services that can keep pace with and even predict possible technological shifts. Industrial designers should also be able to create long lasting relations with their users through creating meaningful interactions and experiences. These interactions can act as important agents in simulating, facilitating and empowering changes that are desired in the related societal contexts. 

Students in project 2 (DPB120) aim at designing simple tangible interactions. They are expected to be able to build simple tangible interactive objects which make use of sensors to obtain data as input and actuators to transform the input into tangible actions. These objects can be either hard or soft materials. The resulted physical interactions between human and these interactive physical objects can contribute to user experiences through different modalities, such as light, sound, taste, temperature, pressure, etc., in different application contexts, such as vitality, sustainable environment, playful learning, etc. It should be noted that these interactive objects should be tangible with a size not larger than your hand and should not be an app or any other screen-based platforms. 

Project 2 requires the students to be able to integrate TR, CA and US in a design research process based on the reflective transformative design process. This process will take making the tangible interactive objects by working with basic technologies as the departure point and iteratively deliver an experienceable prototype with a handful size. Evaluating the interactive experiences in the contexts of interest will be followed. This process should consist of at least two design iterations. 

This course focuses on providing first-year ID students with awareness of the role and importance of technology in the degree program of ID. Each student should master basic sensors, basic actuators, basic mechanics and basic prototyping technologies defined in the TR workshops and also be able to apply them in the tangible interaction design project when needed. They should be able to design, build and test an experienceable prototype as a team. 

More information to follow. 

Please check the Competence Assessment page for more information on deliverables and assessment. You can find the registration dates and deadlines for this project in the Dates and deadlines and Year planning on the Forms and Files page.