Electronic digital music practice for Neurodiverse People

Caused by recent technological as well as cultural developments – cheap elec- tronics, rapid prototyping technologies, respectively the DIY, maker and demo scenes – the majority of people in the western world are able to creatively express themselves in a multitude of ways. Apart from mainstream hypes such as the hipstamatic phenomenon the tools for digital content creation as well established social and cultural niches featuring unique expression vocabularies, e.g., embodied by experimental electronic music practice.

People with disabilities, however, mostly lack the possibility to take part in such cutting-edge movements: assistive technologies and careful design considerations are often of secondary interest to the designers and developers of the required technology, especially when it comes to the facilitation of cultural niches (This is by far not caused by bad faith, furthermore grounded in the very constraints inherent to such cutting edge movements).

However, questions remain on how e.g. electronic music practice can be scaf- folded to support people facing challenges in society due to differences in their neurologic development. How can it support them in expressing themselves in an experimental way beyond mainstream? How can it make the fun part accessible for them without pressing it into too much guidance? Can it empower them to even shape their own social niche(s) in the above-mentioned sense?

In my talk, I will give insights on how the DEIND project at Aalto University approaches these questions. In the project, we aim to connect neurodiverse people with the field of contemporary electronic and digital music practice. In pursuit of this, people with autistic spectrum disorders are invited to take part in the design process of electronic musical instruments. To facilitate music practice, we aim for a holistic instrument experience rather than a modular approach in which the underlying modules of electronic instruments, interface & mapping & sound synthesis, would become too evident, possibly interfere with the flow experience.

The close integration of target group members into the design cycle encourages a bilateral learning process: on the one hand, there is an intense and fruitful experience for the participants, on the other hand, it opens the opportunity for the involved researchers to identify challenges that are specific to this group yet reveal new perspectives on the broader view of their respective research area.

Biography

Website

When: 5-6pm – Thurs, June 13th, 2013

Where: CIID, Toldbodgade 37b, 1253, Copenhagen K, DENMARK

Space is limited so please RSVP via email to: info@ciid.dk (with ‘Till’ in the subject line)

LED: Working With Modularity and Form

Wires are the biggest impediment to designing elegant and effective electronic installations within large spaces. Electricity is dangerous and in many ways fragile. As such, we need to protect it, protect ourselves from it, and support electrical components physically as well as electrically.

Nature does an incredible job of this, creating efficient forms, kinetic mechanisms and conduits for fluids, energy and information. Its decentralized architecture creates an optimized beauty characterized by its modularity, strength and responsiveness. I use this train of thought as inspiration in my work and would like to share it with you.

Biography

When: 5-6pm – Weds, June 12th, 2013

Where: CIID, Toldbodgade 37b, 1253, Copenhagen K, DENMARK

Space is limited so please RSVP via email to: info@ciid.dk (with ‘Krugman’ in the subject line)

Interactions with a Human Touch

On a daily basis, we interact with countless physical and digital objects. What’s interesting is how many of these interactions evoke emotional reactions. As humans, we inherently project many emotions onto simple everyday interactions.

This lecture uncovers how simple cues and motion communicate with us in an evocative way. Do products have personality? If so, how can we craft it? The lecture will bring together findings from different fields in order to hypothesize the building blocks of how to craft emotional interactions.

Biography

When: 5-6pm – Tues, May 28th, 2013

Where: CIID, Toldbodgade 37b, 1253, Copenhagen K, DENMARK

Space is limited so please RSVP via email to: info@ciid.dk (with ‘Marco’ in the subject line)

A new take on weather

What will the weather be like in an hour? What about in a day? In most forecasts, you either see the day or the week in some sort of table. But how would a forecast without tables and numbers look like?

Frank Rausch and Timm Kekeritz will talk about the implications of infographics for mobile apps. Frank and Timm are heading the Berlin creative consultancy Raureif and created the iPhone weather app »Partly Cloudy«.

When: 5-6pm – Tues, May 21st, 2013

Where: CIID, Toldbodgade 37b, 1253, Copenhagen K, DENMARK

Space is limited so please RSVP via email to: info@ciid.dk (with ‘Raureif’ in the subject line)

Spacebrew: A Toolkit for An Open Internet of Things

For the past few months, James & Josh have been working on Spacebrew: A toolkit for prototyping interactive spaces, built to be used in workshops it enables dynamic re-routing of inputs and outputs within a space. They will discuss how it works and how we have used it on our client projects. And how an open toolkit for the Internet Of Things can allow various disciplines to collaborate on creating a single interactive experience.

James Tichenor and Josh Walton are Co-Chiefs at the Rockwell Group LAB, an interactive design team operating within a larger architecture firm, the Rockwell Group. Through experimenting with interactive experiences and embedded software the LAB connects digital with analog wherever possible. They will discuss how to leverage digital tools to tell more persuasive stories that blend virtual and physical identities

Presented by James Tichenor & Josh Walton, Rockwell Group LAB

When: 5-6pm – Tues, May 7th, 2013

Where: CIID, Toldbodgade 37b, 1253, Copenhagen K, DENMARK

Space is limited so please RSVP via email to: info@ciid.dk (with ‘J&J’ in the subject line)