Research Group Projects and Descriptions

The High-Low Tech group integrates high and low technological materials, processes, and cultures. Our primary aim is to engage diverse audiences in designing and building their own technologies by situating computation in new cultural and material contexts, and by developing tools that democratize engineering. We believe that the future of technology will be largely determined by end-users who will design, build, and hack their own devices, and our goal is to inspire, shape, support, and study these communities. To this end, we explore the intersection of computation, physical materials, manufacturing processes, traditional crafts, and design.

The LilyPad Arduino is a set of tools that empowers people to build soft, flexible, fabric-based computers. A set of sewable electronic modules enables users to blend textile craft, electrical engineering, and programming in surprising, beautiful, and novel ways. A series of workshops that employed the LilyPad have demonstrated that tools such as these, which introduce engineering from new perspectives, are capable of involving unusual and diverse groups in technology development. Ongoing research will explore how the LilyPad and similar devices can engage under-represented groups in engineering, change popular assumptions about the look and feel of technology, and spark hybrid communities that combine rich crafting traditions with high-tech materials and processes.

What interfaces might we build if we could sketch functional systems directly on paper? What will circuits look like when they are painted or drawn instead of etched or machined? To explore the potential of paper-based computing, we have developed a construction kit of magnetic electronic modules that snap onto sketches made with conductive and magnetic paints. We are currently using these materials to explore sketch-able user interfaces, interactive architectural installations, and educational opportunities in electronics and digital art.