CeeMat

Dynamic Seeing Tools for Learning, Understanding, and Prototyping Physical Computation

For the final project in my Environments Studio I, during Fall 2016, we were challenged to improve the student experience of Carnegie Mellon's IDeATe – short for Integrative Design, Arts, and Technology Network – studios located in Hunt Library. Our proposal, CeeMat improves the experience of learning, working, and prototyping with Physical Computation.

Why did we create CeeMat?

Intro. to Physical Computing–a flagship IDeATe course–regularly experiences a student-drop rate of ~40% or more. To address this, we prototyped a system, CeeMat, that introduces three novel features:

Moreover, CeeMat moves us towards a more complete theory of seeing spaces and introduces a novel interpretation of hybrid environments where digital and physical components exist as a single, continuous material.

Coverage

We presented CeeMat during the School of Design's Fall 2016 #CMUDesignWeek at Carnegie Mellon University. The School of Design featured us on their Instagram and IDeATe did so on Twitter.

Process

Visual overview of the process behind researching and prototyping CeeMat.

Full Process

These are actual process checkpoints completed while working on CeeMat throughout the class. (Click below to open any of the parts in a new tab.)

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Environments Studio I: Form & Context
Environments Studio I (51-265); taught by Prof. Peter Scupelli
Environments Design Lab I (51-267); taught by Prof. Austin S. Lee

This project was completed in collaboration with Jessica Nip and Lucas Ochoa for Project A3 in Environments Mini 1 over the duration of ~3 weeks.

December 2016