Using the tools and techniques you learned in this class, design, prototype and test an interactive device.
November 9 — Develop your final project concept in class. This is a great time to talk to Albert and Zekun about your ideas. Everyone must submit a concept by the evening of November 9. (If you have a team, fine, but everyone should do their take on the concept. Everyone has to submit something. Turn it in at the end of class.)
November 11 — Theme groups (suggested by AI from submitted concepts) will be announced in class. Teams form in class on this day. If you have a team, you can work with your team. If you do not have a team, you can pitch your idea to other people who are also looking for team members. You may team with anyone you want, but every individual must develop a concept — having several strong ideas to choose from increases the likelihood of something novel in the final.
November 16 — Working session
November 18 —Working session
Week of December 1 — Functional check-off. Teams sign up for appointments with the teaching team to demonstrate that the core technical functionality of their project is working.
December 7 — Final presentations in class. Plan to arrive early to set up — class time should be for everyone to try out each other's projects.
December 14 — Write-up and documentation due.
The goal of this final project is for you to have a functioning and well-designed interactive device of your own design.
Your project is to design and build an interactive device to suit a specific application of your choosing, and test the interaction with people**.**
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Concept (due Nov 9): Big idea, timeline, parts needed, fall-back plan.
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Functioning project: The finished project should be a device, system, interface, etc. that people can interact with.
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Documentation of design process
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Archive of all code, design patterns, etc. used in the final design. (As with labs, the standard should be that the documentation would allow you to recreate your project if you woke up with amnesia.)
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Video demonstrating your testing your product with people.
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Reflections on process (What have you learned or wish you knew at the start?)
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Group work distribution questionnaire
The functional check-off is not a final presentation. We want to see that the core technical problem is solved — the hard part that everything else depends on. Design can still be rough, content can be placeholder, and the enclosure can be tape and cardboard. What we need to see is that the main technical loop closes.
Ask yourself: what is the one thing that has to work for this project to be possible at all? That's what we're checking. For example:
- A device controlled by EEG signals → the headset reliably reads a signal and the arm moves in response
- A device that plays content triggered by a physical action → the trigger is detected and the right content plays
- A device that shows real-time data → the data is fetched, parsed, and displayed correctly
- A device that responds to a sensor → the sensor reading drives the output in the intended way
If your core loop is working, we can help you sort out the rest. If it isn't working yet, we need to know that too — that's the whole point of doing this before the final week.
It is fine to change your project goals, but please resubmit the concept plan for the new design when you do that.
Final Project Rubric
| Component | % | Rubric |
|---|---|---|
| Planning: Performed work in advance to ensure project success | 10% | 0: missing |
| 1: present | ||
| Project selection: topic, motivation, and user experience outlined | 10% | 0: missing 1: present 2: thorough |
| Exploration of ideas: Initial conceptual sketches/notes (No AI assistance) | 10% | 0: missing/lack of original work 1: present 2: copious, thorough |
| Documentation of idea development: sketches, photos, videos showing advancement of ideas, can be breadth or depth | 10% | 0: missing 1: present 2: thorough |
| Functional Interaction: Demonstrate or document that system capable of interaction with users either through autonomous or wizarded mechanisms (must include human participants) | 10% | 0: missing/lack of original work 1: present 2: thorough |
| Evidence of technical development: Code, files, schematics needed for functional interaction linked on your GitHub | 10% | 0: missing 1: present 2: thorough |
| Evidence of iteration: revision of code, update of design, reflection on direction following functional or interactive test | 10% | 0: missing 1: present 2: compelling |
| Test with Users: Plan, execution and documentation of iterative test of design and system with non-simulated human users | 20% | 0: missing 1: present 2: thorough |
| Communication/Documentation of Final Design: Text, video, and photo of project illustrating system capability and documenting plans and process (such that another person can replicate) | 10% | 0: missing/lack of original work 1: present 2: thorough |
You can and are not required to work in teams. Be clear in documentation who contributed what. The total project contributions should reflect the number of people on the project.
Digital Fortune Cookie (Sirui Wang) — Interactive fortune cookie that generates context-aware fortunes through physical interaction. (video 1, video 2)
FridgeMind (Haotian Xu) — Smart fridge assistant that tracks contents and reduces food waste through an interactive display and reminders. (video)
NYC Skyline Jukebox (Nophar Shalom, Kyle Li, Angela Bi) — Scan a QR code to play a song while its album cover is projected onto a NYC skyline silhouette backdrop. (video 1, video 2)
Brain-Controlled Robot Arm (Benthan Vu) — EEG/BCI headset controls a physical robot arm via interpreted brainwave signals. (video 1, video 2, video 3)
RailReady (Karl Muller) — Helps commuters prepare for their transit journey with real-time status, reminders, and departure alerts. (video)
Here is a list of good final projects from previous classes.