The Media Computing Project (Winter '23/'24)

  Class Information

Lab Wed, 14:30 - 16:00
  Seminar Room (2350|222)
Language English
Credits
(BSc/MSc CS)
7

  Important Dates

Kickoff Wed, 18.10.2023
Midterm Checkup TBA
Presentations Wed, 31.01.2024

The Media Computing Project is our hands-on lab ("Praktikum") for Master students in Computer Science. Build an interactive system with an unusual user interface in hard- and software that creates an awesome user experience! It's a great gateway into our lab's research and teaching focus on User Interface Design, Human–Computer Interaction, and Personal Fabrication.

This course has limited seating. You need to register to obtain a seat in this course.

Instructors

Prof. Dr. Jan
Borchers

Sebastian
Hueber

For any questions about the class, please contact Sebastian Hueber.

Syllabus

MCP this semester revolves around a topic that elegantly combines multiple domains of media computing and HCI: You will create a multiplayer rhythm game with multimodal inputs. During this course you will learn:

  • the role of HCI in software and game design
  • implementing a GUI app for a desktop OS (macOS)
  • playback and manipulation of digital media like audio and video
  • detecting the human as input from camera feeds with basic computer vision
  • writing simple drivers for USB devices

You will work in groups of three to create:

  • A rhythm game that can be played with one or more players. Whether your game is about playing music, or a jump 'n' run game where inputs need to be synchronized to the beat, or something else, is up to you! We encourage you to implement your game using SpriteKit. However, you can also use another framework as long as your software runs on a Mac.
  • To allow for a very unique and expressive interaction you are also supposed to create an instrument controller. This could be a driver for an existing device, e.g. a Guitar Hero guitar. You could also use a camera and optical tracking of the user or completely build your own device from scratch in the FabLab. While your game will primarily be designed for usage with your instrument controller, the controllers of the other groups should also work with your game. Therefore we expect a controller to perform exactly four different actions, and each controller will have four keycodes assigned as its possible output space. You will need to ship a small user-space driver application with your controller so that we can all test them out with the games of the other groups in the final session of the lab.

Final Project Trailers

Piggy Beat

Beat Ninja

Barnyard Escape

Special Delivery

Fields of Study

  • Informatik (M.Sc.)/Angewandte Informatik
  • Media Informatics (M.Sc.)
  • Software Systems Engineering (M.Sc.)

Course Allocation and Registration Guide

Number of SWS: P3 (Aachen)
ECTS Credits: 7 (CS) / 7 (MI)
Course language: English for all lectures, assignments, and exams

Only 32 seats are available for this course. To get a seat in this course, you have to register for it in SUPRA in the appropriate timeframe during the lecture period one semester before the course is scheduled to start.

Please note that the course takes place in person and that attendance is required for all presentation sessions. Failing to appear without a medical certificate on any of these dates results in failing the course.

Read the pdfEthical Guidelines for the Authoring of Academic Work (pdfEthische Richtlinien für das Verfassen wissenschaftlicher Arbeiten).

Previous Offerings

WS22/21 – WS21/22 – WS20/21 – WS19/20 – SS19 – WS18/19 – SS18 – WS17/18SS17WS16/17SS16WS15/16SS15WS14/15SS14WS13/14SS13WS12/13SS12WS11/12SS11WS10/11SS09SS08SS07SS06