Syllabus

Course Title & Number: Topics in Interactive Multimedia – Interactive Exhibit Design 470-01

Professor: Mark Thompson
Office Address: Art and Multimedia 312
Email Address: thompsom@tcnj.edu
Office Hours: Tuesdays, 9:30-12:30 or by appointment

Class Meets: Fridays, 9:30 – 12:20
Room: Art and Multimedia 222

Course Description:
Interactive and digital technology is transforming the experience of visiting and learning in a museum. This course explores recent trends in museum and exhibit design through lectures, discussions, readings, presentations and on-site visits. Working as a collaborative design studio, students will also design and build interactive systems for TCNJ’s Sarnoff Collection — an on-campus museum drawing from over 6,000 artifacts that document major developments in communication and electronics in the 20th century. These systems are intended to expand the museum’s message, enhance the visitors’ experience, and extend that experience beyond the walls of the museum.

Course Materials:

Supplementary Course Materials

These additional resources may be useful to students for specific projects:

Note: Additional topic-specific materials may be provided during class, with links posted on the blog entry for that class.

Course Requirements:
Design Notebook – This course requires students to keep a design notebook, which will be updated weekly over the course of the semester.

Vision Document – Students are required to submit a vision document as a roadmap for the design and development of their prototype.

Exhibition Critiques – This course requires students to complete two critiques of existing “real-world” interactive exhibits.

Field Trips – Students will be required to make two field trips to nearby exhibitions to experience selected interactive exhibits in situ.

Functional Prototype – This course requires students to design and build a functional interactive exhibit prototype and demonstrate it for the class at least twice (early prototype & final demonstration )

Course Purpose & Learning Goals:
Purpose – To familiarize students with the functions and processes of a real-world design studio.

Learning Goals –

  • Applying their skills in digital media production, writing, interaction design and programming to development of a system with a real-world audience and real-world implications;
  • Considering the challenges of designing interactive media for a group experience in a particular physical space;
  • Analyzing and critique similar software and installations;
  • Employing industry-standard tools as well as develop skills and strategies for managing a long-term collaborative project;
  • Learning to integrate their own skills, techniques and processes with that of their classmates;
  • Learning to articulate and advocate for their ideas in a collaborative setting;

Course Schedule:
Aug-29: First Day of Class
Introductions & Course Overview

Sept-05: Open Content & Big Data
Reading & Homework Discussion: Inventing the Future
Speaker: Emily Croll, Director, TCNJ Art Gallery and Sarnoff Museum
Trend: Open Content
Studio Time

Sept-12: Mobile Apps
Reading & Homework Discussion: Inventing the Future
Speaker: Ben Gross, Ph.D., Research Fellow, Center for Contemporary History and Policy
Trend: Mobile Apps
Studio Time

Sept-19: Augmented Reality & The Internet of Things
Reading & Homework Discussion: Inventing the Future
Speaker: John Kuiphoff, TCNJ IMM
Trend: Augmented Reality & the Internet of Things
Studio Time

Sept-26: 1st Field Trip
Location: The New Jersey State Museum

Oct-03: Natural User Interfaces
*** 1st Exhibition Critique due ***
Reading & Homework Discussion: Exhibition Critiques
Trend: Natural User Interfaces
Speaker: Frank Migliorelli
Studio Time

Oct-10: 3D Scanning & Printing
Reading & Homework Discussion: Vision Documents
Speaker: IMM’s Dickie Cox
Trend: 3D Scanning & Printing

Oct-17: Q2 begins – Functional Prototype Discussion
*** Project Vision Documents due ***
Final Project assignment details
Discussion: Gamification
Studio Time

Oct-24: Functional Prototype Concept Presentations
Discussion: Present Functional Prototype Concepts to Emily Croll & Ben Gross
Speaker: Cameron Uhlig

Oct-29: 1st Sarnoff Innovation Lecture

Oct-31: Prototype Discussion (Halloween)
Location: AIMM 222
Discussion: Project progress reports
Studio Time

Nov-07: Initial Prototype Demos – Q2 Mid-Semester Progress Reports
Location: AIMM 222
Studio Time
Discussion: Prototype Demos

Nov-12: 2nd Sarnoff Innovation Lecture

Nov-14: Studio Time
Location: AIMM 222
Discussion: Open Discussion
Studio Time

Nov-21: 2nd Field Trip
Location: Princeton Art Museum

Nov-28: Thanksgiving Recess (no class)

Dec-05: Last class – Open Discussion

*** 2nd Exhibition Critique due ***
Discussion: Open Discussion
Studio Time

Dec-11: Final Demonstrations

Grading:
Grades with be determined according to the following formula:

  • 25% Final demonstration
  • 25% vision document
  • 20% Exhibition critiques
  • 20% design notebook
  • 10% Field Trips

Note: Details of how each of the above will be scored will be provided at the time of assignment.

TCNJ Policies: