Digital Typography, Fall 1997

Abstract:: This class introduces studies in the algorithmic manipulation of type as word, symbol, and form. Problems covered will include semantic filtering, inherently unstable letterforms, and spoken letters. The history and traditions of typography, and their entry into the digital age, will be studied. Weekly problem sets using Java will explore new ways of looking at and manipulating type.

Numeric Photography, Fall 1998

Abstract:: The aim of the students from the Numeric Photography class at the MIT Media Laboratory was to present an exhibition of digital artworks which blend photography and computation, in the context of scene-capture, image-play, and interaction. Equipped with low-end digital cameras, students created weekly software projects to explore aesthetic issues in signal processing and interaction design. The results are more than a hundred Java applets -- many of which are interactive -- that suggest new avenues for image-play on the computer. These weekly exercises led to the final product, an exhibition of the student work.

Abstract:: Studies the relations between literature (primarily of the Renaissance and Early Modern periods) and the technologies associated with its production and dissemination. Instruction and practice in oral and written communication. Topic for Spring: Hypertexts and Hyperrealities. This course explores the properties of non-sequential, multi-linear, and interactive forms of narratives as they have evolved from print to digital media. Works covered in this course range from the Talmud, classics of non-linear novels, experimental literature, early sound and film experiments to recent multi-linear and interactive films and games. The study of the structural properties of narratives that experiment with digression, multiple points of view, disruptions of time, space, and of storyline is complemented by theoretical texts about authorship/readership, plot/story, properties of digital media and hypertext. Questions that will be addressed in this course include: How can we define "non-sequentiality/multi-linearity", "interactivity", "narrative". To what extend are these aspects determined by the text, the reader, the digital format? What are the roles of the reader and the author? What kinds of narratives are especially suited for a non-linear/interactive format? Are there stories that can only be told in a digital format? What can we learn from early non-digital examples of non-linear and interactive story telling?