A BiD for Better Design
by David Pescovitz
Professor
John Canny's research is focused on human-centered computing
and the relationship between people and machines. (Click
for larger image.)
David
Pescovitz photo
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Imagine your kitchen
blender conks out the day you're hosting a large cocktail party.
You search an online catalog, decide on a model, and click the "buy"
button. But instead of waiting three days for the appliance to be
shipped to your door, you turn on the 3-D printer on your desk.
Layer by layer, the miraculous machine squirts out various materials
to form the chassis, the electronics, and the motors, literally
building the blender for you from the bottom up in a matter of hours.
"The impact will be similar to what happened to printing after
computers," says Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer
Sciences professor John Canny, "But instead of desktop publishing,
this is desktop manufacturing. You'd pay for the plans, not the
product."
Desktop manufacturing is one of many futuristic projects on
the "to-do list" at the Berkeley Institute of Design (BiD), a
nascent cross-disciplinary research center and graduate program.
Affiliated with the Center for Information Technology Research
in the Interest of Society (CITRIS), the BiD goal is nothing short
of incubating a new design discipline.
"The disciplines of human-computer interaction, product design,
and architectural design are converging," says Canny, who is spearheading
BiD with colleagues in the College of Engineering, School for
Information Management and Systems, and the Department of Art
Practice. "Through this Institute, we can get people together
from disciplines that have more contact than engineers with human
contexts to hopefully create a better picture of how computing
can be used by people."
Launched first as a research effort, BiD is already tackling
the development of tools for designing more "human-centered" information
devices that dovetail with tomorrow's interactive environments,
smart buildings, and intelligent classrooms. For example, Canny's
Livenotes is a system where small teams of students collaborate
in a traditional large lecture environment via wireless pen-based
computers. Other quintessential BiD projects include EECS professor
James Landay's DENIM, SILK, and Designer's Outpost digital systems
for intuitive user interface design using "traditional" design
tools like post-it notes and sketched flowcharts.
These
grippers were built using a 3D Printer. The electrodes are
connected to a bit of polymer that shrinks when voltage
is applied, closing the grippers. (Click for larger
image.)
David
Pescovitz photo
|
And while desktop manufacturing technology may eventually trickle
down to the masses, BiD's first priority is to put it in the hands
of product designers. The effort draws on the research of several
BiD collaborators — EECS professor
Vivek Subramanian's ink-jet printable electronics, Mechanical
Engineering professor Paul Wright's work with 3D printers that build
plaster or resin models directly from computer designs, and Canny's
own experiments with new electronically-controlled polymer actuators.
Combining advanced versions of these three technologies into an
integrated desktop manufacturing system could enable designers to
produce working prototypes for usability testing rapidly throughout
the design process. After all, Canny explains, most of today's computing
devices are anything but user-friendly.
"Traditional engineering involves very constrained problem solving
without an emphasis on creativity and iteration," he says. "That's
why the aesthetics of computing are not oriented toward ease-of-use
and consumer convenience."
University approval of the graduate group is pending, but the BiD
faculty and the Institute's illustrious advisory board are developing
the curricula now. Their hope is to pilot some of the courses in
the next academic year through existing academic departments. The
ideal BiD student, Canny explains, is an engineer with a reasonable
exposure to social sciences or art, or vice versa. Students will
tackle projects in teams where they can put their individual expertise
to use while also developing a broader sense of user experience.
Only then, Canny says, can designers hope to satisfy the increasing
demand for human-centered technology design.
"When design or engineering students enter the real world and
are placed on interdisciplinary design teams, they have trouble
communicating and negotiating conceptual models," Canny says.
"That's because they have different vocabularies after going through
a program where everyone thinks the way they do. BiD will create
an opportunity for people with very diverse skill-sets to understand
how the other side operates."
Berkeley Institute of Design
CITRIS
John Canny's home
page
James Landay's
home page
Paul
Wright's home page
Vivek
Subramanian's home page
3-D
Printing's Great Leap Forward (Wired News - August 11,
2003)
Lab Notes is published online by the Public Affairs Office of the UC Berkeley College of Engineering. The Lab Notes mission is to illuminate groundbreaking
research underway today at the College of Engineering that will dramatically change our lives tomorrow.
Editor, Director of Public Affairs: Teresa Moore
Writer, Researcher: David Pescovitz
Designer: Robyn Altman
Subscribe or send comments to the Engineering Public Affairs Office: lab-notes@coe.berkeley.edu.
© 2002 UC Regents. Updated
5/1/02.
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