Class Digital and Interactive Arts

This class fosters the development of creative projects through several work stages. The first (TP#1) consists of an investigation into pioneering artistic practices. By using a parametric model that facilitates the analysis of perceptual experience, the student also prepares for the second stage (TP#2) - which consists of creating sounds related to the analysed works. For the third and fourth stages of work, two options are provided. Option A: Students are invited to use the sounds from TP#2 in two interactive compositions, to be realised on websites (TP#3) and in 3D/Unity environments (TP#4). Option B: Alternatively, they may develop or expand an interactive mechanism presented in the Sonic Arts course unit (TP#3), and elaborate a composition integrating the sounds from TP#2 (TP#4). Finally, groups are formed with the aim of developing more complex projects (TP#5), with digital, analogue, or hybrid components.

Not applicable

Theoretical frame Notions of agency and interactive composition. Simple vs. complex mappings. Digital analysis of sound vs. human perception. Levels of communication: determined vs. undetermined purpose. 'Open work'. Parameters for the analysis of perceptual experience: interaction design/ cognitive effort dynamics/ attention audio-visual relationship/ multisensory integration semantics physical space Spatial presence and performative arena. Practical work Individual URL with research about two pioneering artworks. Parametric analysis of those works.  Creation of multiple sounds related with those works. Analysis of that relation. Interative composition for URL (image mapping). Interative composition in Unity (with template).  Development of other interactive systems. Online documentation. Collective URL with planification and contextualization of a performance/ installation/ interactive system. Concretization of the project.

It is permitted to use Chat GPT (similarly to Google and Wikipedia) in order to find bibliographic sources. - as long as those sources are properly consulted and referenced. It is always crucial to evaluate and select the results of any search, to consider different information sources, to make use of critical thinking, and to extrapolate further. Chat GTP can equally be used to revise spelling and gramar, as long as that revision is subsequently verified by the student. 

Bolter, J. D. & Gromala, D. (2003). Windows and Mirrors, Interaction Design, Digital art, and the Myth of Transparency . Mit Press. Blackman, S; Wang, J. (2014). Unity for Absolute Beginners. Springer Science + New Media New York. Paul, C. (2015). Digital Art (3th ed.). London: Thames & Hudson. Sá, A. and Tanaka, A. (2022). A Parametric Model for Audio-Visual instrument Design, Composition and Performance. In S. Gibson, S. Arisona, D. Leishman, A. Tanaka (Eds.) Live Visuals: History, Theory, Practice (pp. 240-266). Routledge.  https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003282396 Sá, A.(2024). Transdisciplinarity, Composition, Expression: Reflections of a Spherical Way of Thinking. In Leonardo, 57(1), 33-39.  MIT Press. https://doi.org/10.1162/leon_a_02472