Julian Bleecker

USC School of Cinema Television
Interactive Media Division
CTIN 541 — Mobile + Prototyping Module
Professors Mark Bolas & Julian Bleecker

Overview
The proliferation of mobile and location-aware devices with built-in networking capabilities offers a unique opportunity for designing compelling entertainment, productivity and information experiences. Moreover, web-based locative media applications such as Google Maps and Microsoft Virtual Earth represent a convergence of static, non-cartographic data (or “metadata”) captures an impulse harkening back to the Renaissance to capture experiences, chart landscapes and develop a sense of place within the larger world.
The objective of this module is to introduce students to mobile and locative media through a set of hands-on development/prototyping projects. Through these projects, we will develop a sense of the design approaches and technical skills necessary to do fundamental prototyping for, broadly, mobile and locative media experiences.
It is expected that all students will participate individually in developing the design prototype projects. Students should be prepared with the fundamental knowledge necessary to edit web pages, upload and download files, and have the wherewithal to write a little bit of code.

Week 1: Making Maps — Introduction

Discussion Session
The power of maps?
Possibilities for web-based mapping tools and
Individually authored maps of “unconventional” data
Brainstorming, Ideation and Need finding

Prototype Laboratory Session
Set-up rudimentary development environments.
Edit JavaScript files, transfer files to and from your computer, and get a basic understanding as to the syntax and semantics of JavaScript.
Set up your web accounts under the IMD web server.
Steps to making maps.
Sources for GIS data; sources for maps; rudiments of geographic data (coordinate pairs, latitude/longitude, map datums; projections)
Prepare data for building a Google Map-Hack.
Goal for following week will be to plot these locales on a Google-style map. Data can be obtained from an existing online source, or empirically with the use of a GPS.

Week 2: Google Maps API

Discussion Session
API description and discussion.
Focus on Google Map API.
The design of intimate objects and its relationship to personal and portable media.

Prototype Laboratory Session
Working with the Google Maps API.
Taking the data sourced or created during Week 1, a Google Map API-based web-accessible map will be created.

Week 3: Processing Mobile Environment

Discussion Session
Types of programming languages (procedural, object oriented, script-based).
Deployment of languages including layers of abstraction to hardware implementations.
Prototyping and Iteration
Define Project Teams

Prototype Laboratory Session
Install Processing development environment on your computer and familiarize with IDE.
Hello World exercise

Goal for next week will be to design and implement a personally defined project in teams of two using team-chosen development environment approved by the instructors.

Week 4: Extreme Programming Session

Discussion Session
Software development planning and management and introduction of extreme programming techniques
Examples of Mobile applications and devices

Prototype Laboratory Session
Extreme-Team project implementation and realization

Week 5: Technology Wrap-up and Presentations

Prototype Laboratory Session
Finalize Projects & Presentations

Discussion Session
Final presentations, analysis and critique.