ATLAS is well-represented at #TEI2024 - the 18th ACM International Conference on Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction. This year’s conference, in Cork, Ireland, celebrates “cutting-edge scientific research and art that is on the edge of disciplines and on the edge of new unique developments and possibilities.”

Research from 12 members of the ATLAS community including faculty, alumni and students is featured at the conference. The work spans a range of disciplines, including weaving, biomaterials, mixed reality and robotics. In addition, ACME Lab director, Ellen Do, acted as Co-Chair of Graduate Student Consortium; PhD student, Sandra Bae, was an Associate Chair for Pictorials; and ATLAS PhD alum, Fiona Bell, was an Associate Chair for Papers.

Research ATLAS PhD students presented at TEI’24


Shanel Wu, Xavier A Corr, Xi Gao, Sasha De Koninck, Robin Bowers, and Laura Devendorf

Abstract: We present the Loom Pedals, an open-source hardware/software interface for enhancing a weaver’s ability to create on-the-fly, improvised designs in Jacquard weaving. Learning from traditional handweaving and our own weaving experiences, we describe our process of designing, implementing, and using the prototype Loom Pedals system with a TC2 Digital Jacquard loom. The Loom Pedals include a set of modular, reconfigurable foot pedals which can be mapped to parametric Operations that generate and transform digital woven designs. Our novel interface integrates design and loom control, providing a customizable workflow for playful, improvisational Jacquard weaving. We conducted a formative evaluation of the prototype through autobiographical methods and collaboratively developed future Loom Pedals features. We contribute our prototype, design process, and conceptual reflections on weaving as a human-machine dialog between a weaver, the loom, and many other agents.

Fiona Bell, Joshua Coffie, and Mirela Alistar

Abstract: We explore how actively engaging with the temporalities of a nonhuman organism can lead to multispecies understanding. To do so, we design a bio-digital calendar that brings attention to the growth and health of kombucha SCOBY, a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast that lives in a tea medium. The non-invasive bio-digital calendar surrounds the kombucha SCOBY to track (via sensors) and enhance (via sound) its growth. As we looked at and listened to our kombucha SCOBY calendar on a daily basis, we became attuned to the slowness of kombucha SCOBY. This multisensory noticing practice with the calendar, in turn, destabilized our preconceived human-centered positionality, leading to a more humble, decentered relationship between us and the organism. Through our experiences with the bio-digital calendar, we gained a better relational multispecies understanding of temporalities based on care, which, in the long term, might be a solution to a more sustainable future.

Yuzhen Zhang, Ruixiang Han, Ran Zhou, Peter Gyory, Clement Zheng, Patrick C. Shih, Ellen Yi-Luen Do, Malte F Jung, Wendy Ju, and Daniel Leithinger

Abstract: Driven by the vision of future responsive environments, where everyday surroundings can perceive human behaviors and respond through intelligent robotic actuation, we propose Wizard of Props (WoP): a human-centered design workflow for creating expressive, implicit, and meaningful interactions. This collaborative experience prototyping approach integrates full-scale physical props with Mixed Reality (MR) to support ideation, prototyping, and rapid testing of responsive environments. We present two design explorations that showcase our investigations of diverse design solutions based on varying technology resources, contextual considerations, and target audiences. Design Exploration One focuses on mixed environment building, where we observe fluid prototyping methods. In Design Exploration Two, we explore how novice designers approach WoP, and illustrate their design ideas and behaviors. Our findings reveal that WoP complements conventional design methods, enabling intuitive body-storming, supporting flexible prototyping fidelity, and fostering expressive environment-human interactions through in-situ improvisational performance.

Fiona Bell, Shanel Wu, Nadia Campo Woytuk, Eldy S. Lazaro Vasquez, Mirela Alistar, and Leah Buechley

Abstract: In this studio, we will explore sustainable tangible interfaces by making a range of biomaterials that are bio-based and readily biodegradable. Building off of previous TEI studios that were centered around one specific biomaterial (i.e., bioplastics at TEI’22 and microbial cellulose at TEI’23), this studio will provide participants the ability to experience a wide variety of biomaterials from algae-based bioplastics, to food-waste-based bioclays, to gelatin-based biofoams. We will teach participants how to identify types of biomaterials that are applicable to their own research and how to make them. Through hands-on activities, we will demonstrate how to implement biomaterials in the design of sustainable tangible interfaces and discuss topics sensitized by biological media such as more-than-human temporalities, bioethics, care, and unmaking. Ultimately, our goal is to facilitate a space in which HCI researchers and designers can collaborate, create, and discuss the opportunities and challenges of working with sustainable biomaterials.

Ruhan Yang

Abstract: Modular robots have proven valuable for STEM education. However, modular robot kits are often expensive, which makes them limited in accessibility. My research focuses on using paper and approachable techniques to create modular robots. The kit’s design encompasses three core technologies: paper circuits, sensation feedback mechanisms, and 3D geometry. I have developed proof-of-concept demonstrations of technologies for each aspect. I will integrate these technologies to design and build a paper modular robot kit. This kit includes various types of modules for input, output, and other functions. My dissertation will discuss the development of these technologies and how they are integrated. This research will address the considerations and techniques for paper as an interactive material, providing a guideline for future research and development of paper-based interaction.

Off

Off

ATLAS Institute PhD candidate Peter Gyory passed his comprehensive exam on August 18. His work on his dissertation, “Developing Tools to Support Approachable Game Controller Design,” is overseen by committee members, Professor Ellen Do, Associate Professor Amy Banic, Associate Professor Joel Swanson, Michael Rivera, Associate Professor (UC Davis)  and Professor Mark Gross.

During his exam, Gyory outlined his work in game controller design. His research goal is to expand tangible user interface research by exploring the design space of alternative controller (Alt Ctrl) games. In addition, Gyory wants to develop tools that make the creation of Alt Ctrl games more approachable for those without much physical computing experience. During his exam, Gyory showcased his projects, HOT SWAP and Tinycade, game controller platforms that can be reconfigured to support multiple games. He also outlined his planned work in developing an Alt Ctrl toolkit called "Beholder Observables," a platform implemented with computer vision that requires only a smartphone to use it.

"I hope my work will make physical computing more approachable to those without advanced fabrication tools," Gyory says.

Prior to working on his PhD, Gyory received a BS in Game Design and Development from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 2016 and an MS in Creative Technology and Design from the ATLAS Institute.

Off

Off

Researchers from ATLAS Institute’s ACME Lab presented one pictorial and two graduate student symposium papers at the 14th ACM Creativity & Cognition (C&C), which took place June 20-23 in Venice, Italy. The theme of this year's conference was "Creativity, Craft and Design."

Graduate Student Symposium Paper

ACME Lab

 authored by Peter Gyory, (ATLAS PhD student)

Alternative Controllers (Alt Controls) enable game designers to creatively explore how humans interact with games and challenge the status-quo of game interfaces. Alt Controls, however, require technical skills and fabrication infrastructure that often make them inaccessible to the average designer. Tangible User Interface researchers stand to benefit from the unique approach that Alt Controls promote. Gyory's research aims to bridge the gap between game developers and Alt Controls through the use of everyday materials and crafting techniques. In this paper,  Gyory discusses a framework for physical computing that uses computer vision (Beholder) and an example introductory platform for Alt Controller design (TinyCade). Further research will refine this framework and incorporate the perspective of other game designers.

Publication

Peter Gyory. 2022. Creating Platforms to Support Craft and Creativity in Game Controller Design. In Creativity and Cognition (C&C '22). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 708–710.  (June 20-23, 2022—Venice, Italy).

Off

Researchers from ATLAS Institute’s ACME Lab presented one pictorial and two graduate student symposium papers at the 14th ACM Creativity & Cognition (C&C), which took place June 20-23 in Venice, Italy. The theme of this year's conference was "Creativity, Craft and Design."

Pictorial

ACME Lab

 authored by Peter Gyory, (ATLAS PhD student); Perry Owens, (Creative Industries master’s student); Matthew Bethancourt, (teaching associate professor and director of the Whaaat?! Lab;) Amy Banic, (visiting associate professor, ATLAS/computer science;)  Clement Zheng, (ATLAS post-doctoral research associate, PhD, Technology, Media & Society ‘20) and Ellen Yi-Luen Do, (faculty, ATLAS/computer science).

Tinycade is a platform designed to help game designers build their own mini arcade games by hand. With this platform, one can craft functioning game controllers out of everyday materials such as cardboard and toothpicks.  In this pictorial, the authors discuss the functionality of Tinycade and showcase three games that demonstrate the variety of controls possible with this platform.

Publication

Peter Gyory, Perry Y Owens, Matthew Bethancourt, Amy Banic, Clement Zheng, Ellen Yi-Luen Do. 2022. “Build Your Own Arcade Machine with Tinycade,” In 14th ACM conference on , (June 20-23, 2022—Venice, Italy).

Off

Researchers from ATLAS Institute’s ACME Lab will present one pictorial and two Graduate Student Symposium papers at the , which will take place June 20-23 in Venice, Italy. The theme of this year's conference is "Creativity, Craft and Design." 

Professor Ellen Yi-Luen Do, director of the ACME Lab, who is serving on the steering committee for the C&C conference series, is also the co-chair for the conference’s Graduate Student Symposium and for publicity. Besides being a co-author of the Tinycade paper, Do will also chair Session 7 on Sound and Music. Do also received a NSF grant (Award Abstract # ) to support bringing graduate students to the conference.

Held every other year in an international location since 1993, C&C serves as a gathering place for a diverse community of researchers, designers, engineers and artists who provide a cross-disciplinary perspective on creativity and cognition as well as technological innovation. It serves as a premier forum for presenting the world's best new research investigating computing's impact on and ability to promote creativity in all forms of human experience. 
 

Off

Miniature cardboard arcades, ketchup and mustard bottle game controllers, physically mining for cryptocurrency and manic pizza, candy and gold stock trading over the phone: These are the concepts behind four games developed in 91��Ƶ's ATLAS Institute that have been selected to participate in alt.ctrl.GDC 2022, a coveted showcase of new games that feature unusual controls and surprising interactions. The event is part of GDC, the world's largest professional game developers conference, which takes place March 21-25 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. A favorite stopover for thousands of GDC attendees, alt.ctrl.GDC features 15 finalists. All sharing ties to the College of Engineering and Applied Science, three of the ATLAS teams are associated with the Whaaat!? Lab and one hails from the ACME Lab. "To have four ATLAS games picked for the 15 slots in this exclusive venue—it's a remarkable accomplishment. We're going to have a lot of fun," said Matt Bethancourt, co-director of the Whaaat!? Lab and a senior teaching associate professor with ATLAS. 

Off

Like most, ATLAS PhD student Peter Gyory spent a lot of time at home during the pandemic lockdown. Unable to access the ACME Lab and the tools he typically uses—a 3D printer, laser cutter, woodworking tools and other fabrication equipment—Gyory faced a design challenge: how to make games using only household materials. 

One material he had in abundance was cardboard from online shopping. He also had a printer. 

Inspired by classic arcades, Gyory and a team of ACME Lab researchers ultimately developed Tinycade—a platform for DIY game controllers that anyone, including novices, can use to design and build arcade-like games using household materials such as cardboard, mirrors and hot glue.

The game platform builds on work that Gyory conducted with Clement Zheng, (PhD, TMS’20) for Printed Paper Markers, a framework for building interfaces using computer vision and printed markers. 

Gyory explains, “I want to empower people who have no technical experience–middle schoolers, high schoolers, my grandparents–to make an interface rather than accept what others make.” 

The platform is built around a smartphone, where the game is controlled via the phone’s camera using computer vision. Just as smartphone cameras recognize and respond to QR codes, Tinycade uses spatial movement of specialized markers for game play. 

Users don’t need to understand the platform’s inner workings; they can design their own Tinycade game by downloading templates and markers from the , printing and cutting the game cabinet according to the patterns, and assembling the pieces as instructed. Then they attach markers to the back of cardboard knobs. As users move the game  controls, a mirror reflects the movement of markers back to the camera lens. 

After sliding in the DIY controller and selecting a game from the Tinycade website, the “console” is ready to play. All Tinycade games were programmed by Gyory or other ACME Lab researchers. 

“Tinycade encourages people to invent and create new game controllers from recyclable cardboards instead of buying plastic and electronic game controllers that would later become e-wastes in landfills,” said Professor Ellen Yi-Luen Do, director of the ACME Lab.  “Gamers can enjoy the fun of being both players and makers too.”

[video:https://vimeo.com/653129186]

Off

ATLAS recently released a new video that celebrates the ACME Lab and its commitment to designing technologies to support creatives. Directed by Professor Ellen Do, the lab researches computational tools for design, creativity, cognition, tangible and embedded interaction, and computing for health and wellness.
[video:https://vimeo.com/643703302]

Off