21 interaction design students explore the relationship between people, society and technology.

The Danish Design School and Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design will celebrate and showcase the work of Pilot Year students that came from ten different countries to study on the collaborative and intensive interaction design programme.

The students have come up with an array of projects that demonstrate the multidisciplinary and questioning nature of Interaction Design and Service Design. Through a people-centred approach and taking cues from social and environmental sustainability, audio, information visualisation, and the influence of technology - the twenty-one students have devised visionary working prototypes and produced video scenarios as their final projects.

From systems for the integration of climate refugees, to specially designed windows that question the notion of curiosity; from wearable technology, to a series of devices that can enable new interactions with light & sound - these projects consider new technology, concepts and working prototypes that address social, cultural and business issues.

As well as the final projects, there will be a chance to see videos and documentation of other workshops from the pilot year including industry-facing projects with Nokia, Novo Nordisk, Intel and DSB.

Save a date:

Opening: 27th August 3-6pm
(Then from Friday 28th August - Sunday 6th September, open from 11:30am-5pm)

Venue
Kunstindustrimuseet (The Danish Museum of Art & Design)
Bredgade 68 / 1260 København K
Website: http://kunstindustrimuseet.dk/en

More detailed information to follow soon.

“You are scientists and artists; your work is both technical and poetic, educational and inspirational,” Mrs. Obama said. “Thank you for inspiring the next generation.” (First Lady, Michele Obama)

From: http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/24/at-white-house-first-lady-honors-design-innovators/

July 24, 2009, 1:18 pm

At White House, First Lady Honors Design Innovators
By Rachel L. Swarns

The crossroads of science and art, innovation and inspiration are what I love about design,Ron Edmonds/Associated Press “The crossroads of science and art, innovation and inspiration are what I love about design,” said Mrs. Obama during the award ceremony.

The first lady, Michelle Obama, celebrated the nation’s innovators in architecture, interior design, fashion, landscaping and other design-related fields on Friday, honoring the 10 recipients of the National Design Awards at the White House.

Mrs. Obama heralded the designers of a waterfront park in New York City, a six-million-square-foot development in Singapore, the first laptop computer and the digital technology used by TV networks to cover the 2008 presidential campaign, among others. The ceremony, which has been held annually at the White House since 2000, is the equivalent of the design world’s Academy Awards.

“You are scientists and artists; your work is both technical and poetic, educational and inspirational,” Mrs. Obama said. “Thank you for inspiring the next generation.”

Recipients of the award, which is sponsored by the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, included SHoP Architects of New York for architecture; Tsao & McKown Architects, also of New York, for interior design; Francisco Costa of the Calvin Klein collection for fashion; Hood Design, in Oakland, Calif., for landscape design; Boym Partners, in New York, for product design; Perceptive Pixel Inc., of New York, for interaction design; and The New York Times graphics department for communication design.

The lifetime achievement award went to Bill Moggridge, a founder of IDEO, the global design consultancy; the Design Mind award to Amory B. Lovins, a physicist and founder of the Rocky Mountain Institute, a Colorado nonprofit research organization; and the corporate achievement award to the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. Reynold Levy, president of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, received the Design Patron Award.

The third “From Business to Buttons” conference in Malmö, southern Sweden will take place in June (11-12th). Some of the biggest international names in business strategy, interaction design and usability will be there for keynotes, lectures and workshops.

This is a great time to learn some essential new techniques - in, for example, touch-interfaces, agile development, and social media - to sharpen your skills and keep the competitive edge. And of course: to get the chance to meet and make new business contacts with people from all over Europe,

For every interaction designer, business strategist and usability expert, From Business to Buttons is a great meeting place.

Early Bird is 900 EUR (full price is 1100 EUR) until 30th of April.

Don’t miss out. Sign up now!

See the complete program at http://businesstobuttons.com

MACHWERKET
Vestergade 62, 8000 Århus C
www.machwerket.dk

For more information and the online application form, see: http://ciid.dkds.dk/admissions/

Deadline: Applications should be received by April 1st, 2009. Please contact us if an extension is required.

PROGRAMME OVERVIEW

The interaction design programme teaches students to apply technology to everyday life, through the design of software, products, and services. We believe in a hands-on and user-centered approach to interaction design. Students learn the programming and electronics skills needed to work with technology as a design medium. They conduct user-research and experience prototyping to provide real-world grounding for their concepts. Frequent work in multi-disciplinary teams encourages peer-to-peer learning. A diverse selection of visiting faculty exposes students to a range of expertise.

Next year’s interaction design programme builds on the structure of the pilot year. The twelve month programme is divided into three tiers: foundations, investigations, and the thesis. The foundations are short workshops that provides students with the skills they need throughout the year. The investigations give students the opportunity to pursue in-depth projects around a particular design brief. The thesis provides students with an opportunity to explore an area of their choosing, combining design work with reflection and knowledge generation. Additionally, students will participate in innovation projects: collaborations with industry on briefs of mutual interest.

For more information on the current Interaction Design Pilot Year curriculum, see: http://ciid.dkds.dk/education/

A gallery of course information and student work from the Interaction Design Pilot Year is available at: http://dkds.ciid.dk/

WHAT WE LOOK FOR

As an education concerned with the broad potential of design and technology, the interaction design programme is looking for a wide diversity of students. We welcome applicants from all over the world and from any background. You should be curious and creative; enthusiastic about design and working in a cross-disciplinary environment. Whether you’re currently studying or working, you should be interested in the connections between education and interaction design practice. As this is a new programme, we’re seeking students with an interest in helping to shape the education and curriculum. We plan to have a class of approximately 25 students.

CONTACT

For more information about the interaction design programme, see http://ciid.dkds.dk/ or write to info at ciid.dkds.dk.

Success, prosperity, and market shares are usually the result of unpredictable paths, favorable but unconditioned circumstances, pioneering individuals and the taming of wild and disruptive technologies.

So how do we find the right way in an ever-changing world? By wandering off the main road, chartering the unexpected. By going where no GPS has gone before, where territories and known worlds end. By getting lost.

NEXT – Nordic Exceptional Trendshop – is a vessel bound for the new, the odd angled and the unpredictable. A home ground for exceptional minds and their inventions. NEXT no. 6 is an invitation to go beyond the horizon, to throw away the compass, leave the known for the next and gain perspectives in the loss of direction.

Go, get lost: http://www.ilab.dk/da/next

Four Interaction Design Pilot Year projects will be shown in the exhibition: BunnyBot, Calen3dar, Compound Eye and Meet the Food you Eat.

He interviewed Heather Martin who ran the course and Ashwin Rajan, Magnus Bendtsen and Adam Little .

You can read the write-up (in Danish) and listen to the audio interviews (in English) here: http://www.dr.dk/P1/harddisken/20050819093418.htm
(If you click the iTunes link, our segment begins at 47 minutes into the show.)

More information of the Tangible User Interface course: http://dkds.ciid.dk/py/tangible-user-interface/overview/

We are pleased to announce the launch of a series of microsites dedicated to the work that the students have done so far:

• Computational Design [2 weeks]
• Video Prototyping [1 week]
• Physical Computing [2 weeks]
• Theory of Interaction Design [1 week]
• User Research [1 week]
• Toy View and Crafting Interactive Spaces [1 week]
• Graphical User Interfaces [4 weeks]
• Tangible User Interfaces [4 weeks]

For more information about the Interaction Design Pilot Year please visit the website: http://ciid.dkds.dk/ - or contact us by email: info@ciid.dkds.dk.

Tangible user interfaces (TUI) are used to interact with digital information through the physical environment.

This one-evening exhibition will showcase a number of projects designed on the 4-week Tangible User Interface course as part of the Interaction Design Pilot Year.

The brief was to design pairs or a series of networked objects that illustrate digital information in a physical form. These physical objects not only reflect and display digital data - but enable people to interact directly with data through an appropriate use of technology. The students will demonstrate well‐crafted prototypes that consider physical interactions, affordances, attributes and metaphors for specific user groups.

Information
where: Strandboulevarden 47A, St tv, 2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark
when: Reception/Exhibition from 4pm onwards, Friday 30th Jan, 2009

More info: www.pacemaker.net / www.tonium.com.

Lecture information
where: Strandboulevarden 47A, St tv, 2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark
when: 4-5pm. Tues 20th Jan, 2009

More Interaction Design Pilot Year events listed here: http://ciid.dkds.dk/events/