Physical Computing

• June 28, 2004

I just discovered the term “physical computing,” which is used to describe the design and implementation of the hardware interface between man and machine. Tom Igoe teaches Physical Computing as part of the Interactive Telecommunications Program, Tisch School of the Arts, NYU.

From his blog:

What is physical computing? It’s an approach to learning how humans communicate through computers that starts by considering how humans express themselves physically. A lot of beginning computer interface design instruction takes the computer hardware for given – namely, that there is a keyboard, a screen, perhaps speakers, and a mouse – and concentrates on teaching the software necessary to design within those boundaries. In physical computing, we take the human body as a given,…