The School of Interactive Arts and Technology proposes an undergraduate degree program that consists of four streams: Performance and Media Arts, Interaction Design, New Media Environments, and Technology in Arts and Design.
The first year of this program, TechOne, will be operated as a foundation year program administered by the Faculty of Applied Sciences in conjunction with the School. Revisions to TechOne are being prepared separately.
The following statement is adapted from the draft Academic Plan, School of Interactive Arts and Technology prepared by T. Calvert on 8 December 2003. It is, in essence, the mission statement developed by the faculty in December 2002.
The Interactive Arts and Technology program integrates design, arts, sciences, and information technologies to foster innovative applications of new computer technologies that respond to our wider socio-cultural context. Our undergraduate, Masters and PhD programs produce students with skills, leadership and vision. We promote the ability to analyze social, cultural, economic, aesthetic, and ethical effects of computational technologies and networked systems, alongside the ability to implement them. Our approach is designed to be broadly inclusive, and is informed by strengths in technology-mediated teaching and learning, and management for a knowledge-based economy.
Faculty and research students in Interactive Arts and Technology maintain strong research profiles. Ambitious collaborative research projects with national and international partners occur in four CFI/BCKDF funded research labs. Our interdisciplinary approach to research and teaching creates synergies with many existing programs at Simon Fraser University. By recognizing these partnerships and allowing for multiple crossover points between our School and others, we promote effective interdisciplinarity and expand the scope of education and research.
The School of Interactive Arts and Technology is unique in Canadian higher education. Graduates from our graduate and undergraduate programs will understand technologies and their contexts. They will meet a growing need in the provincial and national economies for technologically literate individuals who are also able to think critically. Through our extensive team-based learning, students will be prepared to work collaboratively with colleagues from diverse backgrounds. Our graduates will fill important roles in industry, arts, design, and government. Many will pursue graduate studies.
Among the several interconnected goals for the School that are described in this Plan, the following are especially pertinent to the proposed undergraduate program:
To create a place of learning that integrates design, arts, sciences and the humanities through innovation in computer mediated systems.
To develop leading edge curricula that integrate digital art, design, performance, cultural studies, networking, computing for physical systems, software development, engineering, entrepreneurship, and knowledge management.
To provide graduates with breadth and depth that blend scholarship with practical experience
To explore collaborative approaches to research and curriculum development thereby building communities of reflective practice.
To foster innovation in learning by creating an environment that accommodates change via computer-mediated and face-to-face instruction, while respecting traditional methods.
To generate powerful synergies between curriculum evolution and faculty research.
To promote an environment of equal opportunity, diversity, gender equality, and academic freedom and exploration.
The program described in this proposal is intended to implement these goals.
Until now, SIAT has offered Information Technology and Interactive Arts programs, the latter divided into Performance & Media Art and Interaction Design streams. Now the Information Technology program is being phased out and will be replaced, in part, by a new Technology Arts and Design program. The other two streams, meanwhile, have been extensively revised, and out of that work has evolved a new, related stream: New Media Environments.
The School of Interactive Arts and Technology offers a general program leading to BSc and BA degrees with major or honors in Interactive Arts and Technology. Students seeking the major or honors elect one of four streams: Performance and Media Arts, Interaction Design, New Media Environments and Technology in Arts and Design.
All streams in the program share a fundamental concern with people using technology in context. Each draws from distinct patterns of scholarship and thinking—each has its own academic emphasis, which leads directly to its particular pattern of study and set of graduate outcomes.
Performance and Media Arts is based on the artistic interpretation and expression of human experience through interactive technological environments. This stream combines critical theory with artistic practice to produce artworks in the form of installation, performance and exhibition. Its graduates will create new forms of cultural and artistic expression in our technologically mediated society.
New Media Environments is concerned with the creation, analysis and understanding of new media. New media environments are both computational artifacts and cultural experiences. They are therefore highly emergent phenomena that are deeply rooted in historical, social, aesthetic, and economic processes. Graduates of this stream will be skilled in the critical analysis and in the making of new media forms such as electronic games, digital video, computer animation, and interactive multimedia.
Technology in Arts and Design studies technological systems used by people in work, learning and play situations. Its emphasis is on system-building with particular emphasis on how people use systems, how to program user-centered systems and how to represent and reason about the objects and environments that people use. Its graduates will be able to make systems that people find useful and engaging.
Interaction Design examines the relationship between people and technology with the intent to enhance or improve our environment through a reflective design process that incorporates interactive technologies. The fundamental graduate outcomes are a combination of creative action and critical thought that shape the way people make and use highly interactive products, systems and environments.
The streams achieve their ends by a common curricular structure. Each has a set of core courses in both lower and upper division taken by all students in the stream aimed at producing specific graduate outcomes. There is significant sharing of course content among the streams, especially within the electives. Even within the sets of required courses, there is overlap reflecting the fact they are all part of a common program. The common academic threads shared by all four streams include the TechOne foundation year, four SIAT courses for the BA degree and an additional five common courses for the BSc degree.
The sections that follow contain more detailed information about the individual streams as well as the course requirements of that stream. Each stream has 30 upper division credits specified that count towards the major.
Within each stream are required core courses, stream-related electives, program-wide electives and free electives to be taken from courses outside of the program. In should be noted at the outset that wherever a list of elective courses is presented, the actual offerings in any given year may be less than those shown. This is in recognition of the obvious constraints that will be imposed by limited human and financial resources. It is nonetheless expected that the courses listed will be rotated over time to give students maximum opportunity to pursue their own interests within the overall program design.
Admission to the School is possible through four routes.
Direct admission from BC12 or equivalent high school preparation in accord with the requirements listed under the Admission section of the calendar.
Admission to the School upon completion of TechOne, the foundation year program that comprises the standard first year program.
Internal transfer from another SFU program upon completing requirements equivalent to those of TechOne.
Direct transfer from another post-secondary institution substantially meeting the requirements of TechOne.
Students apply to either the BA or BSc program upon completion of TechOne or its equivalent. Students must have completed at least 24 credit hours of the core lower division BA or BSc requirements listed below for admission to the respective degree program.
Admission is competitive based on a grade point average calculated over all courses taken from the core requirements of the relevant degree program. In the case of duplicated (repeated) courses, all course attempts are counted equally in the admission average. Students who are unsuccessful in their first admission application may improve their average by taking additional courses from the core requirements.
Lower Division Requirements
The lower division requirements for all planned IAT major and honors programs consist of the 21 credits of TechOne core courses (including an approved mathematics course), 12 credits of SIAT core courses, the BA or BSc requirements below plus 15 credits of lower division requirements in one of the four streams.
SIAT Lower Division Core Courses (12 credits)
The current composition of the SIAT lower division core is:
TECH
114-3 History and Theory of Technology and Culture
IAT 200-3
Cognition for Design Science
IAT 201-3 Usability in Interactive
Environments
IAT/CMPT 265-3 Multimedia Programming for Art and
Design
BA Lower Division Core (45 credits)
In addition to the 21 credits of TechOne and 12 credits of SIAT lower division core, students must complete 9 credits from:
PSYC 100-3 – Introduction to Psychology
IAT 204-3 Encoding Media Practice
IAT 230-3 Design of Digital Environments
IAT 231-3 Visualizing Interaction
Lower division media electives (List1)
Lower division cultural theory electives (List 2)
Or another approved course from the School of Communication or the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
The Senate previously approved a requirement of two additional courses chosen from the Faculty of Arts and Social Science or the School of Communication. This has been combined into the BA lower division so that the BA requirement now totals 45 credits.
BSc Lower Division Core (45 credits)
In addition to the 21 credits of TechOne and 12 credits of SIAT lower division core, students must complete 9 credits from the IAT list of BSc courses currently comprised of:
CMPT 225-3 Data Structures and Programming
MACM 101-3 Discrete Mathematics I or MATH 151-3 Calculus I (whichever not taken in TechOne)
MATH 210-3 Calculus for Design Sciences
MATH 232-3 Elementary Linear Algebra
CMPT/IAT
261-3 Spatial Computing
MATH 152-3 Calculus II
IAT 232-3
Prototyping and Human factors
STAT
270-3 Introductions to Probability and Statistics
KIN 142-3
Introduction to Kinesiology, PHYS 120-3 Modern Physics and Mechanics
or another approved course from the Faculty of Science or the
Faculty of Applied Sciences.
The Senate previously approved a requirement of one of KIN 142-3 Introduction to Kinesiology, PHYS 120-3 Modern Physics and Mechanics or another approved course in the physical sciences. This has been combined into the BSc lower division so that the BSc requirement now totals 45 credits.
Performance and Media Arts is based on the artistic interpretation and expression of human experience through interactive technological environments. This stream combines critical theory with artistic practice to produce artworks in the form of installation, performance and exhibition. Its graduates will create new forms of cultural and artistic expression in our technologically mediated society.
Performance and Media Arts is based on the experience of the multi-sensory human body. The interpretation and expression of human experience at the centre of PMA occurs within interactive technological environments and is framed through a conceptual dialogue relevant to artistic practice. This stream will focus on research, practice, and theory leading to demonstrated proficiency in the areas of interactive performance, creative process, interface design, interactive environments and installations, interactive games, wearable technologies and/or other ambient technologies. The stream strives to provide a balanced understanding of the physical, artistic, cultural, social and technical issues affecting the relationship between people and rapidly evolving interactive environments.
PMA relies on methodologies from dance, theatre, installation art and physical interface design, in combination with relevant philosophical and critical discourse. This methodological approach is grounded in the application of creative and design processes relevant to contemporary interactive arts practice, experience-focused methods and innovation in the area of physical computing.
The New Media Environments, Interaction Design, and Technology in Arts and Design streams provide electives and complementary experiences for PMA students. The PMA stream will, in turn, offer elective options to students from within and outside the program. Students from the PMA stream will provide a focus on art practice to balance the social, cultural and technical aspects of collaborative technology-based projects. Through the sharing of courses and expertise PMA students will build interdisciplinary knowledge and practices.
Graduates of the PMA stream will be prepared to actively construct the next generation of embodied interfaces and cultural experiences. They will understand the creative potential of the convergence between the affective human body and interactive computational systems. Our graduates will be able to create interactive experiences that integrate live and mediated human presence, at the same time they will be able to contribute to the growing field of critical discourse around digital cultures and artifacts. Graduates will know how to work effectively in interdisciplinary team contexts on the creative development and application of interactive technologies through the use of collaborative and organizational knowledge and skills. By applying critical reflection and analysis, they will be able to balance the artistic, social, cultural and technical implications of developing interactive performances, environments, systems, and products.
Graduates of the PMA stream will build careers in interactive performance, media art, physical computing, physical interaction design, wearable device research and development, multimedia design, web design, interactive game design, and art direction and production.
In addition to the BA or BSc requirements for the major students must complete a total of 15 stream specific credits currently comprised of the following courses:
IAT 204-3 Encoding Media Practice
Lower division media electives (List1)
Lower division cultural theory electives (List 2)
Students must take at least two courses from List 1 and one course from List 2.
Upper Division Requirements (30 credit hours)
Students must complete all of:
15 credits of PMA upper division core courses, currently:
IAT 301- 3 Interactive Media Design
IAT 320-3 Body Interface
IAT 321-3 Kinesthetic Space
IAT 424-3 Interactive Performance and Installation
IAT 421-3 Issues in Performance & Media Studies [writing intensive course]
And at least 12 credits from the following including at least 6 credits of PMA studio courses.
PMA studio courses:
IAT 322-3 Exhibiting Interactive Installation and Performance Studio
IAT 422-3 Wearing Technologies, Fabricating Experience Studio
IAT 423-3 Performance and Media Art Studio
IAT 400-3 Graduation Studio
PMA elective courses:
IAT 302-3 Cognition in Interactive Environments
IAT 310-3 Project Management for Creative Industries [writing intensive course]
IAT 312-3 Foundations of Game Design
IAT 313-3 Narrative and New Media
IAT 445-3 Immersive Environments
IAT 482-3 Special Topics in Performance and Media Art
And SIAT upper division courses, if required, to bring the total to at least 30 credits.
Upper Division Course Descriptions:
IAT
301-3 Interactive Media Design
Students learn physical
interaction design and machine perception techniques useful in the
design of audiovisual media display systems, physical installations,
and mediated performance. Principles of physical interaction are
explored through projects in interactive media. Readings, discussion
and writing are conducted in critical issues in the historical
development of interactive media including the poetics of site,
space, time and technology.
IAT 320-3 Body Interface
Body Interface explores ideas of embodiment, knowledge, and space within the human relationship to technology. Throughout this course, students will construct and analyze contemporary and historical models of bodily interaction with machines, understand physical practices of embodiment, and apply these concepts to representation, design, and the production of artistic interface.
IAT 321-3 Kinesthetic Space
This course takes an embodied approach to design and artistic practices. An understanding of kinesthesis and kinesthetic methodologies are introduced by combining theory and practice. Students use their bodies as starting points for understanding the logic of artistic, social and architectural space, plus the space of signs and devices. Their projects are based on enhanced or transformed physical and perceptual awareness, and are complemented by theoretical discourse in the area of somatics, architecture and technologically mediated space. Classes are part seminar and part physical workshop.
IAT 424-3 Interactive Performance and Installation
Building from a contextual overview of live performance in the 20th century that emphasizes performance art, happenings and the fluxus movement, this course guides students to explore live, mediated and interactive experience. Students develop their own substantial media performance or participatory installation project while introducing theoretical frameworks to critique, analyze and debate their own work and the work of others. Classes are part seminar and part physical workshop.
IAT
421-3 Issues in Performance and Media Studies
This
writing intensive course will guide students to delve more deeply
into specific questions and issues relating to performance and media
studies. Current projects and conceptual frameworks from the academic
and professional art worlds will be examined and students will be
requested to read, conceptualize and articulate debates while
inserting their own views into the forum.
IAT
322-3 Exhibiting Interactive Installation and Performance Studio
This
final year course will be a context for students to create an
installation or performance and to learn the stages and scope of
professional exhibition. Working in teams, the students will learn
skills for exhibiting, promoting, marketing, audience and space
management, writing strategies for press, grants & conference
presentations, creating a viable project web presence, plus
infrastructural details such as shipping, set up and take down. After
the completion of this course students will feel confident to embark
upon the professional exhibition process. [Pre-requisite: Interactive
Performance and Installation and one of either Kinesthetic Space or
Body Interface, or by approval of the instructor]
IAT
400-3 Graduation Studio
Students work in teams to develop and
evaluate a design addressing a complex, ill-defined problem. The
actual design problems addressed vary from year to year and relate to
current social and technological issues in society. The course covers
the entire spectrum of the design process from problem definition to
prototype and a broad range of perspectives including market
feasibility, manufacturing, life-cycle implications, usability and
social reception.
Prerequisite: 90 credits of prior coursework.
IAT
422-3 Wearing Technologies, Fabricating Experience Studio
This
studio course focuses on the design, fabrication and testing of
prototype interactive products and systems. The thematic
investigation will change each year and will focus on topics central
to evolving developments in ubiquitous, mobile and wearable
computing. Students will be expected to produce operational
prototypes for testing and evaluation.
IAT
423-3 Performance and Media Arts Studio
This studio course focuses
on the design, fabrication and testing of prototype interactive
products and systems. The thematic investigation will change each
year and will focus on topics central to evolving developments in
ubiquitous, mobile and wearable computing. Students will be expected
to produce operational prototypes for testing and evaluation.
IAT 313-3 Narrative and New Media
This
course examines the design and the experience of narrative and story.
It includes foundation principles and concepts from traditional
linear narrative forms. The course extends these narrative concepts
to multi-linear and to networked narrative forms. Students will
analyze and produce both linear and multi-linear narrative
works.
Prerequisite: 45 credit hours
IAT 482-3 Special Topics in Performance and Media Arts
A specific set of debates or practices alive and relevant to the professional interactive arts world will be selected to form the basis of this course. Students will be guided as they research with considerable depth the topic(s) from the perspective both of practice and theoretical discourse. Emphasis will be placed upon the conceptualization and articulation of their own views. A seminar format will be used, and assessment can be based on practice and/or written research.
The New Media Environment stream is concerned with the creation, analysis, and understanding of new media. New media sits at the intersection of computation and culture. As a consequence new media artifacts, environments, and experiences are emergent phenomena. The NME stream recognizes that this state of emergence is, and will continue to be, an ongoing characteristic of digital media. At the same time, we see that new media are deeply rooted in historical, cultural, social, and economic processes. Our approach combines the creation of new media art with the understanding of media artifacts and environments within broader cultural contexts.
This stream is complementary to the Interactive Design and the Performance and Media Art streams. The three streams share specific courses, skills and processes, and a common commitment to the importance of both creation and understanding. Jointly, the three streams define a comprehensive look at the design and the experience of computational art and media. The situation of these streams within the Interactive Arts and Technology program provides a strong framework for the technological and social foundations of all three streams.
Graduates of the NME stream will be accomplished in a range of digital arts, including the use of image and sound, interface and interactive design, the application of encoded media practice, and the construction of networked environments and communities. NME students will produce works in a variety of media disciplines, including sound works, still images, moving images, digital animations, virtual and data worlds, simulations, and games. Each graduate will demonstrate competence in all these disciplines, and will be required to produce exemplary works that combine higher order conceptual and production skills. They will be able to analyze and discuss their own and other works within a broader cultural and social context. Finally, they will be capable of incorporating new and emergent digital media skills and capabilities within their own ongoing practice.
Graduates of the NME stream will build careers in a wide range of interactive multimedia design and production areas, including new media production, game design, web development, and the construction of virtual networked environments.
In addition to the BA or BSc requirements for the major students must complete 15 credits of stream specific courses currently comprised of all of the following courses:
IAT 204-3 Encoding Media Practice
Lower division media electives (List1)
Lower division cultural theory electives (List 2)
Students must take at least two courses from List 1 and one course from List 2.
Upper Division Requirements (30 credit hours)
Students must complete all of:
15 credits of NME upper division core courses, currently:
IAT 301-3 Interactive Media Design
IAT 312-3 Foundations of Game Design
IAT 313-3 Narrative and New Media [writing intensive course]
IAT 410-3 Advanced Game Design
IAT 445-3 Immersive Environments
And at least 12 credits from the following including at least 9 credits of NME studio courses:
NME studio courses:
IAT 340-3 Media Studio: Experimental Sound Design
IAT 341-3 Media Studio: The Fabricated Photograph
IAT 443-3 Media Studio: Image, Sound and Motion
IAT 444-3 Media Studio: Synthetic/Animated Image
IAT 400-3 Graduation Studio
NME elective courses:
IAT 302-3 Cognition in Interactive Environments
IAT 310-3 Project Management for Creative Industries [writing intensive course]
IAT 320-3 Body Interface
IAT 483-3 Special Topics in New Media Environments
And SIAT upper division courses, if required, to bring the total to at least 30 credits.
Upper Division Course Descriptions:
IAT
301-3 Interactive Media Design
Students learn programming and
machine perception techniques useful in the design of audiovisual
media display systems. Readings, discussion and writing are
conducted in critical issues in the historical development of
interactive media including the poetics of site, space, time and
technology.
IAT
312-3 Foundations of Game Design
This course includes the
fundamentals of game design and the analysis of game experience. It
will examine game as a set of rules, game as the experience of play,
and game as a culturally-situated phenomenon. Students will analyze
and produce a wide range of games in both electronic and
non-electronic media.
IAT
313-3 Narrative and New Media
This course examines the design and
the experience of narrative and story. It includes foundation
principles and concepts from traditional linear narrative forms. The
course extends these narrative concepts to multi-linear and to
networked narrative forms. Students will analyze and produce both
linear and multi-linear narrative works.
Prerequisite: 45 credit
hours
IAT
340-3 Media Studio: Experimental Sound Design
Advanced techniques
in real-time audio digital signal processing appropriate for game
development and virtual environments are explored including
interactive speech, music and sound effects. Students will design
and build dynamic, navigable and immersive aural settings embedded in
3D graphic environments.
Prerequisite: IAT 243 or equivalent
IAT
341-3 Media Studio: The Fabricated Photograph
This course
explores issues in making photographs that are conceived as
surrogates for reality. Areas of investigation include historical
precedents, major movements and practices that lie outside straight
photography. Students are expected to mesh their personal aesthetic
with the multitude of possibilities available in electronic media as
they build a personal body of work
Prerequisite: IAT 244 or
equivalent.
IAT
410-3 Advanced Game Design
This course will involve further work
in the production and analysis of electronic games. Students will
review a variety of electronic game forms, and will analyze a series
of games from the perspective of game design theory and interactive
multi-mediated experience. Students will produce a series of short
game exercises and one term-project final game.
IAT
443-3 Media Studio: Image, Sound and Motion
The advanced moving
images course allows students to further develop their communicative
and artistic expression through the use of moving images in new
media. This course offers a strong studio orientation based on
conceptual, aesthetical and technical training integrated within
screenings, seminars and critiques. Screenings center on experimental
film, video and multimedia materials. The class engages in themes of
physical and conceptual assembly, transformations of light and form,
movement, spatial and time based composition through digital video
production from initial premise to final presentation. Students will
have an opportunity to develop an original and mature body of work
that reflects the student’s interest and passion for moving
image and digital media.
Prerequisite: IAT 242
IAT
444-3 Media Studio: Synthetic/Animated Image
Building on skill
learn in Computer Animation, the Advanced Computer Animation course
introduces advanced techniques for 3D computer animation such as
advanced modeling ,animation and rendering. The course also covers
creating both linear and interactive projects including short films,
3D worlds, avatars, and character animation and interactive
visualizations. The course will explore current research topics in
computer animation such as facial animation, behavioral animation,
artificial life and interactive systems.
Prerequisite: IAT 241
IAT
445-3 Immersive Environments
This course introduces students to
both physical and virtual immersive environments and worlds. A large
range of immersive possibilities will be explored as to both define
immersive space and to begin to understand how to author immersive
systems. Once fundamentals are established the planning and execution
stage begins where students will explore real-time dramatic
performance art in immersive environments. This course culminates in
a public interactive narrative performance or product. In this course
we design, script, create actor roles, build 3d immersive sets,
rehearse and document the plan of our class conceived immersive
performance that delves into the blurring definitions of author and
audience, fact and fiction, physical and virtual.
IAT
400-3 Graduation Studio
Students work in teams to develop and
evaluate a design addressing a complex, ill-defined problem. The
actual design problems addressed vary from year to year and relate to
current social and technological issues in society. The course covers
the entire spectrum of the design process from problem definition to
prototype and a broad range of perspectives including market
feasibility, manufacturing, life-cycle implications, usability and
social reception.
Prerequisite: 90 credits of prior coursework.
IAT 482-3 Special Topics New Media Environments
A specific set of debates or practices alive and relevant to the professional new media world will be selected to form the basis of this course. Students will be guided as they research with considerable depth the topic(s) from the perspective both of practice and theoretical discourse. Emphasis will be placed upon the conceptualization and articulation of their own views. A seminar format will be used, and assessment can be based on practice and/or written research
Technology in Arts and Design Stream
Technology in Arts and Design studies technological systems used by people in work, learning and play situations. Its emphasis is on system-building with particular emphasis on how people use systems, how to program user-centered systems and how to represent and reason about the objects and environments that people use. Its graduates will be able to make systems that people find useful and engaging.
Position Statement
Technology in Arts and Design studies systems that combine people, computation and the physical world. It is a design field – it aims at both understanding such systems and creating new systems that are useful in their contexts. The essential core of its education is a combination of creative action and critical thought.
The stream makes four educational commitments beyond those of a general university degree: people, systems, design process, and modeling.
By people we mean the study of how people use technology to learn, think, and play. Systems identifies the historical development and technical structure of systems combining people, computation and the world. Students learn design process by doing design work and by study of existing design processes and theories. Modeling is the act of creating representations suitable for designing TAD systems. It includes representations for space, artifacts, and processes. Its tools include computer-aided design systems, physical prototyping, programming and applied mathematics.
The stream curriculum meets these commitments with several mandatory components. It is divided into a lower division of 48 credits and an upper division of 30 credits.
The lower division introduces the concepts, processes and skills required for effective design work. Topics include (1) the historical, cultural and technological contexts of systems; (2) media and design; (3) teamwork and communication; (4) people and their use of technology; (5) mathematics; (6) the mathematical and symbolic representation of space; (7) programming, and (8) computer science.
The upper division provides (1) in-depth study of kinds of systems common in contemporary society, for example, design environments, ubiquitous environments, knowledge media and interaction technology; and (2) practice in designing and prototyping such systems. The upper division comprises four core courses, four human-centered system design studios, a project management course and a program specific elective.
Summary of Learning Outcomes
Graduates of this stream will be able to think critically and act creatively in developing technology for people in their contexts. They will have a fundamentally scientific outlook, tempered by exposure to other academic traditions. Graduates will have broad competencies as follows: (1) to develop and evaluate systems that support learning, thinking and play; (2) to model virtual and physical environments; (3) to design and evaluate human-computer interfaces and other highly interactive systems; and (4) to work effectively on technology projects requiring interaction with participants from diverse backgrounds. We expect that the core skills acquired by students will be broadly marketable and of particular value in creative industries.
Career opportunities for graduates
Arts and Design Technology graduates will be well-prepared to design, implement and evaluate systems for people, including: multimedia systems, interactive products, physical interfaces, web sites, computer games, online learning systems, and computer-aided design. They will be well-prepared for leadership responsibilities and for further professional/academic study in related disciplines.
Admission Requirements
Entry to this stream requires the completion of 24 credits of SIAT-approved coursework, or (by permission) a comparable set of courses. These include at least one math course from an approved list.
Students should note that there is a four course, lower level math requirement and a four course, lower level computing requirement that must be satisfied for graduation. Some of these courses are prerequisites to second year courses; others may be taken at any point in the program.
In addition to the BA or BSc requirements for the major students must complete 15 credits of stream specific courses currently comprised of all of the following courses:
CMPT 225-3 Data Structures and Programming
MACM 101-3 Discrete Mathematics I or MATH 151-3 Calculus I (whichever not taken in TechOne)
MATH 210-3 Calculus for Design Sciences
MATH 232-3 Elementary Linear Algebra
CMPT/IAT 261-3 Spatial Computing
Students must complete all of:
15 credits of TAD upper division core courses, currently:
IAT 310-3 Project Management for Creative Industries [writing intensive course]
IAT 351-3 Interaction Technology
IAT 352-3 Knowledge Media
IAT 451-3 Design of Ubiquitous Environments
IAT 452-3 Design Environments
And at least 12 credits from the following including at least 9 credits of TAD studio courses.
TAD studio courses:
IAT 353-3 Human Centered Design Studio I
IAT 354-3 Human Centered Design Systems Studio II
IAT 453-3 Human Centered Design Systems Studio III
IAT 454-3 Human Centered Design Systems Graduation Studio
TAD elective courses:
IAT 301-3 Interactive Media Design
IAT 302-3 Cognition in Interactive Environments
IAT 312-3 Introduction to Game Design
IAT 410-3Advanced Game Design
IAT 430-3 Design Research
IAT 484-3 Special Topics in Technology in Art and Design
And SIAT upper division courses, if required, to bring the total to 30 credits.
Upper Division Course Descriptions
IAT 310-3 Project Management for Creative industries: Recognizing that all graduates of TAD are likely to be working in project environments, though not necessarily always as project managers, this course will introduce the fundamental concepts of project management. It will provide students the opportunity to learn-by-doing 1) why these concepts, tools, and techniques are relevant to all members of project teams; and 2) how they are applied to projects in creative industries.
IAT 351-3 Interaction Technology: Key areas of technology for supporting user interaction with systems in work, learning and play are introduced, employing tactile, aural, and visual senses of humans. Technologies used in sensors and actuators for robotic systems are reviewed for their applicability to user-centered interaction.
IAT 352-3 Knowledge Media: An introduction to knowledge media as the study of how people design, create and use technologies that convey knowledge. The emphasis is on how such media support people in work and learning contexts. A range of technologies is treated in a comparative manner, addressing both utility for intended tasks and design and implementation. Particular topics include comparison of humanistic and technological views of knowledge; group creation of knowledge; visualization and visual inference; user modeling; collaboration and supporting technologies; computer-supported cooperative work; participatory design; and knowledge networks and communities.
IAT 452-3 Design Environments: The domain of concern for this course is representation authoring in design, where “design” is taken broadly as a process of making proposals for change. It uses specific advanced design systems as cases, for example, drawing systems, parametric modeling systems and games authoring environments.
IAT 451-3 Design of Ubiquitous Environments: Ubiquitous environments are those in which information and control services are available for casual use. The design of such environments requires in-depth understanding of patterns of use, user-centered design processes and knowledge of enabling technologies. This course covers all three areas, with particular emphasis on how technologies enable human action. The well-known example of a smart house is used to motivate and demonstrate how ubiquity can act as a design principle.
IAT 353-3, 354-3, 453-3 and 454-3 Human Centered Design Studio Courses I, II III and the Graduation Studio. These are four core upper division design studio courses in the Technology in Arts and Design (TAD) Stream. Their aim is the acquisition of relevant knowledge and skill in designing, implementing and evaluating human-centered systems. Each of the four courses has similar structure: workshops around key issues arising in the particular human-centered system being designed and a semester-long project with multiple milestones as the primary assessment device.
IAT 484-3 Special Topics in Technology and Art in Design
A specific set of debates or practices alive and relevant to the professional technology and art in design world will be selected to form the basis of this course. Students will be guided as they research with considerable depth the topic(s) from the perspective both of practice and theoretical discourse. Emphasis will be placed upon the conceptualization and articulation of their own views. A seminar format will be used, and assessment can be based on practice and/or written research.
Interaction Design Stream
Interaction Design examines the relationship between people and technology with the intent to enhance or improve our environment through a reflective design process that incorporates interactive technologies. The fundamental graduate outcomes are a combination of creative action and critical thought that shape the way people make and use highly interactive products, systems and environments.
Position Statement
The Interaction Design stream will prepare students to work effectively as future designers who will address the requirements of a new generation of interactive systems, services and events that are designed from the outset to address the needs of real people in everyday situations.
The course curriculum is structured to balance the social, cultural, aesthetic and technical issues that surround the potential offered by advanced technologies with the practical realities of prototyping and user field-testing to ensure solutions adequately address human centered concerns. Core competencies in human-centered design, designing with interactive technology, design theory and interaction design process and skills lead to specialty strengths in ambient technologies, interactive products, wearable computing and interactive environments. These skills are built through the learning of design-related cognitive science, human computer interaction, communication in design, experience design, human factors and human-centered design methods. Design principles are addressed in such course offerings as: interaction reception, design evaluation, design research and advanced interaction in design. Students will acquire prototyping abilities based on a combination of media, computational and visualizing skills in order to analyze, model, and design complex interaction situations. Throughout the curriculum we emphasize the central role consumers or users play in the design process.
The New Media Environments, Performance and Media Arts, and Technology in Arts and Design provide electives and complementary experiences for Interaction Design students. Shared courses and faculty expertise build interdisciplinary knowledge and practices.
Summary of Learning Outcomes
Graduates will be able to create effective interactive experiences through design. In doing so, they will develop important secondary skills: understanding interactive technologies, working effectively in team-based environments and realizing the social implications of their designs. More specifically, a graduate in interaction design will demonstrate proficiency in: designing interfaces, developing a design process, analyzing interactive products & systems, and in assessing interactive environments, interactive games, and ambient technologies.
Career Opportunities for Graduates
Graduates of Interaction Design will be leaders in interactive product research and development, context-based experience design, multimedia design, web design, interactive game design, art direction, and project management. They will be well prepared for leadership responsibilities and for further professional/academic study in related disciplines.
Lower Division Requirements
In addition to the program BA or BSc requirements students must complete 15 stream specific credits currently comprised of the following:
9 credits of IAD core lower division courses:
IAT 230-3 Design of Digital Environments
IAT 231-3 Visualizing Interaction
IAT 232-3 Prototyping and Human factors
And six credits from the following courses:
PSYC 100-3 – Introduction to Psychology
KIN 142-3 Introduction to Kinesiology or KIN 180-3 Introduction to Ergonomics
CMPT 225-3 Data Structures and Programming
STAT 270-3 Introductions to Probability and Statistics
And one lower division cultural theory elective from List 2.
Upper Division Requirements (30 credit hours)
Students must complete all of:
At least 18 credits of IAD upper division core courses currently comprised of:
IAT 302-3 Cognition in Interactive Environments
IAT 331-3 Interaction and Reception
IAT 332-3 Design Evaluation
IAT 333-3 Interaction Design Praxis: Practice and Methods
IAT 335-3 Analysis of Design Situations
IAT 338-3 Programming Prototypes
IAT 430-3 Design Research [writing intensive course]
IAT 431-3 Advanced Topics in Interaction Design
And at least 9 credits from the following including at least 6 credits of IAD studio courses:
IAD studio courses:
IAT 400-3 Graduation Studio
IAT 411-3 Design Studio 1: Ubiquitous, Mobile & Wearable Computing
IAT 412-3 Design Studio 2: Ubiquitous, Mobile & Wearable Computing
IAD electives:
IAT 310-3 Project Management for Creative Industries [writing intensive course]
IAT 301-3 Interactive Media Design
IAT 312-3 Foundations of Game Design
IAT 313-3 Narrative and New Media [writing intensive course]
IAT 410-3 Advanced Game Design
IAT 485-3 Special Topics in Interaction Design
And SIAT upper division courses, if required, to bring the total to at least 30 credits.
Upper Division Course Descriptions
IAT 302-3 Cognition in Interactive Environments
This course examines aspects of psychology and cognitive science that can inform the design and testing of this large and growing class of interfaces: VR, AR, ambient intelligence/ubiquitous/mobile computing, public and situated displays, etc. These methods extend HCI to create a complex systems approach to high-bandwidth human computer interaction design. Topics covered include Marr’s computational theoretic, algorithm, and implementation levels of analysis, human cognitive architecture and models of embodied, enactive and distributed cognition. Methods discussed include cognitive architecture-based task analysis, linear and nonlinear dynamics modeling, toy world study methodologies, and mixed qualitative/quantitative research methods.
IAT 331-3 Interaction and Reception
This course explores the relationship between designed products, services, and systems, and the larger context in which design operates. Design is considered as a form of language that can be analyzed using ethnography and cultural theory. Once design is understood as a language, we turn to the contexts for the use of design and explore what languages form the reception and interactive sites for cultural communication and meaning achievable through design.
IAT 332-3 Design Evaluation
This course examines evaluation concepts and methods for interaction designers. The course analyzes the range of evaluation approaches including informal evaluation, usability, field studies, heuristics, critique and discursive evaluation. Students will explore techniques for feedback including observation, interviews, expert reviews, use experience, modeling, and critical analysis. Underlying concepts of evaluation including scientific observation, ethnography, phenomenology, and aesthetics will be discussed. Students will learn how to design and implement appropriate evaluation studies for a range of ubiquitous computing environments.
IAT 333-3 Interaction Design Praxis: Practice and Methods
This course examines concepts of design practice and related design methods for interaction designers. Students will be introduced to concepts of practice such as reflective practice, embodied interaction and pattern language. Students will review a range of methods focused on conceptualization, use experience, situated use, and prototyping, including scenarios, role-playing, participatory design, ethno-methodologies and the use of prototypes. In addition to readings, students will engage in exploratory design method projects.
IAT 335-3 Analysis of Design Situations
This course examines methods for analyzing and gathering requirements for design situations as they relate to the range of ubiquitous computing applications. The course will examine the conceptual frameworks for understanding human activity and design situations. Students will review a range of methods for requirements gathering, interviews, observation, and ethnographic and ethno-methodological techniques. Students will also study qualitative, quantitative, and interpretive modes of analysis of data and how to support design with these findings. Students will engage in a range of case-stories and projects focused on user analysis
IAT 338-3 Programming Prototypes
This course develops advanced programming and scripting skills for developing prototype software, hardware and prototype versions of interactive systems. The emphasis will be on high level programming skills such as MAX and Flash that enable students to develop working prototypes of their projects for design and testing. Types of programming projects will include software, interactive systems, network and web-based systems, wearables, and mobile devices.
IAT 430-3 Design Research
This course explores how the practice of design helps to explain the world around us or how we can find ways to improve the way we design. This course introduces the importance of design research. Students will review case-stories of research problems in design, research methods relevant to design, and how to present research outcomes. Students will be expected to explore and complete their own research investigation into a design-related research problem.
IAT 431-3 Advanced topics in Interaction Design
This seminar course allows for in-depth exploration of a specific design, cultural and or social theme and its impact on design. The thematic investigation will change each year and will focus on topics not typically covered elsewhere in the Interaction Design curriculum. Possible themes include sustainability, design for developing nations, globalization and localization, and other relevant or prescient issues.
IAT 411-3 Design Studio 1: Ubiquitous, Mobile & Wearable Computing
This studio course focuses on the design, fabrication and testing of prototype interactive products and systems. The thematic investigation will change each year and will focus on topics central to evolving developments in ubiquitous, mobile and wearable computing. Students will be expected to produce operational prototypes for testing and evaluation.
IAT 412-3 Design Studio 2: Ubiquitous, Mobile & Wearable Computing
This studio course focuses on the design, fabrication and testing of prototype interactive products and systems. The thematic investigation will change each year and will focus on topics central to evolving developments in ubiquitous, mobile and wearable computing. Students will be expected to produce operational prototypes for testing and evaluation.
IAT 485-3 Special Topics in Interactive Design
The Performance and Media Arts Stream, the Interaction Design Stream and the New Media Environments stream include courses that appear on the following lists.
List 1 – Media Electives:
IAT 241-3 Animation
IAT 242-3 Moving Images
IAT 243-3 Sound Interaction
IAT 244-3 Digital Photography I: Post Photography
List 2 – Cultural Theory electives:
IAT 203-3 Cultural Icons & Popular Arts
IAT 206-3 Media Across Cultures
IAT 209-3 Critical and Creative Thinking
Degree Requirements for the Major Program
Normally students entering a Major in Interactive Arts and Technology will apply to either the BA or BSc program after completion of TechOne or its equivalent.
BSc Degree Requirements
Students must complete the requirements of one of the four streams in SIAT.
For award of a BSc degree, the courses elected must include the following:
The BSc lower division requirements, plus a combination of 30 upper division credits chosen from approved groupings as follows:
Group 1: credits from TAD upper division core courses, TAD studio courses, TAD upper division electives or upper division courses from Computing, Kinesiology, Engineering Science or any Science discipline. Must include 15 credits of TAD upper division core courses; and 3 credits of TAD studio courses.
BA Degree Requirements
For award of a BA degree, the courses elected must include the following:
The BA lower division requirements, plus a combination of 30 upper division credits chosen from approved groups as follows:
Group 1: credits from upper division courses in SIAT (other than TAD core or TAD studio courses) or upper division courses in Communication or any Arts or Social Science discipline. Must include 15 credits of PMA upper division core courses; and 3 credits of PMA studio courses.
Group 2: credits from upper division courses in SIAT (other than TAD core or TAD studio courses) or upper division courses in Communication or any Arts or Social Science discipline. Must include 15 credits of NME upper division core courses; and 3 credits of NME studio courses.
Group 3: credits from upper division courses in SIAT (other than TAD core or TAD studio courses) or upper division courses in Communication or any Arts or Social Science discipline. Must include 15 credits of IAD upper division core courses; and 3 credits of IAD studio courses.
An honors degree in Interactive Arts and Technology is available in all four streams: Performance and Media Arts, Interaction Design, New Media Environments and Technology in Arts and Design.
Identical to the Major for all streams.
For all streams students must complete the requirements for a Major plus additional IAT electives for a total of at least 48 upper division IAT credit hours.
Honors students may choose to elect the Honors Research Project. This is an individual supervised study and research project open only to honors students.
In addition to the above, students must take sufficient unspecified upper division courses to complete a minimum of 60 upper division credit hours, and unspecified courses at any level to total 132 credit hours overall.
For graduation a 3.0 or better GPA is required on four measures: CGPA, UDGPA, IAT GPA and IAT UDGPA.
The sum of all the courses in the program must also satisfy the University’s writing, quantitative skills and breadth requirements.
A minor in Interactive Arts and Technology is available – this is not specific to any stream.
Students must complete a total of 27 credits comprised of the course requirements for TechOne plus both of:
IAT 200-3 Cognition for Design Science
IAT 201-3 Usability in Interactive Environments
*CMPT 126-3 may be substituted for the CMPT 120/125 sequence that is part of the TechOne requirements.
Students must complete 15 upper division IAT credits. It should be recognized that some upper division courses have lower division prerequisites.
The sum of all the courses in any degree program must also satisfy the University’s writing, quantitative skills and breadth requirements.
Arrangements for the work experiences are made through the school's co-op coordinators and the University's Office of Co-operative Education.