In GeekPhysical workshops, hands on learning means everyone learns enough about electricity, wiring, sensors, micro computing, motors, switches, lights, and many other fantastic interfaces so they can go home with the necessary tools to keep exploring.

1. GeekPhysical
Bringing tangible computing and rapid prototyping into
the world of interaction design.
Capacitive touch
sensitive pumpkin,
lights when touched.
Halloween project.

2. Workshops
• GeekPhysical brings people together with
technology; literally. We focus on:
• Tangible computing
• Rapid prototyping
• Biometrics
• Robotics
• Sensing the physical world, and interacting with it.

3. How the
computer
sees us
- From Dan O’Sullivan and Tom Igoe.
We find this a bit troubling.
Thus, our workshops focus
on making it possible for
participants to interact with
technology in ways they
never considered, and to
extrapolate from that, to
applying it to their work in
HCI(ED) and Interaction
Design.

4. We believe in hands-on
learning.

5. In our workshops, hands on learning means everyone learns
enough about electricity, wiring, sensors, micro computing, motors,
switches, lights, and many other fantastic interfaces so they can go
home with the necessary tools to keep exploring.

6. Inspiration
We spend about 20
minutes of our workshops
showing participants some
of the cool projects we’ve
done to encourage them to
think in different ways
about prototyping,
interaction design,
programming, user testing,
research, and creating
experiences.

7. LED Matrix Displays
Every pixel controlled individually to recreate a photograph

8. Critical Corset
Tightens when your heart rate goes up

9. Heart Rate Necklace
Pulsing out the wearer’s heart rate in lights.

10. Exploding ball of jeans
A precisely controlled ball containing
1500 jeans, released at once.

11. VFD Alarm Clock

12. Participants quickly develop the skills necessary to begin
exploration on their own, and progress to creative
problem solving within the workshop period.

13. Large groups...

14. Medium groups...

15. Small groups...

16. Even blind groups!

17. Workshops
We run some standard workshops but can
also easily adapt to ideas that you have, and
the number of participants.
Our suggested workshops follow.

18. Robots come to life!
• Participants spend the morning learning about electronics, wires,
electricity, Arduino, and learn how to install and connect their
hardware.
• The afternoon is spent assembling the robot and learning to use
Pure Data, an open source, visual programming language so no one
has to have previous programming knowledge!
• The rest of the day is spent being explorative, changing the robot’s
behavior, and making it personal and intriguing.
Robot workshop
in Odense, Denmark
with art students.

19. Sensing the real world.
• Participants spend the morning learning about electronics, wires,
electricity, Arduino, and learn how to install and connect their
hardware.
• The afternoon is spent investigating different types of sensors,
learning how they work and using them to explore the world
outside the computer screen. Participants learn to use Pure Data, an
open source, visual programming language so no one has to have
previous programming knowledge!
The Singing Plant,
sings when touched.
(With Mads Høbye)

20. Biometrics & Interaction
• Participants spend the morning learning about electronics, wires,
electricity, Arduino, and learn how to install and connect their
hardware.
• The afternoon gives participants the opportunity to use bio-sensors
such as heart rate, temperature, galvanic skin response and breath
control to control technology or create changes in their
environment.
• This workshop gives participants an awareness of what goes on
inside their bodies and how that data can be used for interesting
associations and interactions.
Biometric social
interaction, an
ongoing study by
GeekPhysical.

21. What we’re interested in:
• Conducting conference workshops for 10 to 50
participants over 1 or 2 days or as a week long
session.
• Creating custom workshops for the conference
theme - for example, at the recent 2009 HCIED
conference, where the theme was “Play” we did a
theme of “Playful Prototyping” exploring how
tangible computing can offer a way to explore ideas
and developments quickly and without too much
investment of money or time to get results that
move designs forward.

22. An introduction to us:
• GeekPhysical is made up of Dzl, inventor and engineer, (Danish) and Vanessa Carpenter,
Master of Interaction Design (Canadian).
• Dzl has worked on a huge number of exciting projects including radio and electronics
exploration and development, reverse engineering of a 1 ton ABB robot, navigation and
control systems for a submarine, guidance system and pressure sensor for a rocket,
working with high voltage projects, special effects and extensively with sound and
electronic music, among much more.
• Vanessa is an Interaction Designer with a Master’s degree from Malmo Hogskola in
Sweden, and has completed a number of award-winning projects in the past year, including
a research project on how people learn, and creating the ideal circumstances for learning,
interacting, and understanding one another.
• Considering experience design and engineering, we try to design the experience of our
workshops to be as fulfilling as possible, this isn't just a tech-workshop, its a learning
experience, where people go home with inspiration and motivation to try things they'd
never considered before, and to expand their design concepts. We try to combine the
best of both interaction design and electronics in an easy and fun way.

23. Our research
GeekPhysical brings an interactive element into the social domain, and
promote play, discussion, and most especially challenge social norms
and interaction through our unique biometric systems.
We explore how people interact and react physiologically through the
use of biometrics sensors including thermal output, heart rate, brain
activity, posture, movement, and mechanical body reaction.
One aim is to explore how attraction is perceived and to record
patterns and behaviors of physiological responses. Data is gathered
and collected into a database of sensory and audio/visual input and
displayed as artistic representation of data in the form of video.
(geekphysical.blogspot.com)

24. Learn more online...
• http://geekphysical.blogspot.com
• http://www.illutron.dk
• http://dzl.dk
• http://www.vanessacarpenter.com