Physical Computing

Short credit-bearing course that can lead to an MA in Professional Media Practice

Learn how to design and build physical computing systems.

If you would like to learn how to design and build interactive physical devices, this is the course for you. Physical computing is of increasing interest to artists, musicians, choreographers and other creative practitioners alike. Current key focus areas include interactive architecture, kinetic sculpture, responsive environments and intelligent devices, and this course is the starting point for all of these areas. After taking this course you will feel comfortable with developing your own ideas, leading to the creation of a final product.

But that’s not all - with this course you have the option of gaining Master’s level (M) credits, which you can use to build you own tailored postgraduate qualification. This is part of a new range of Skillset short courses, providing continuing professional development and offering postgraduate credits towards an award. They can be taken individually or in combination with a tailored selection of other courses across the Skillset Media Academy Network to achieve a recognised qualification, ranging from a Postgraduate Certificate to a Master's degree.

Key content

Learning will be centred on the latest developments in interactive physical devices and will involve a series of seminars and practical sessions led by interactive artists, designers and architects working in the field. It will draw on your own experiences in the working environment and you will be able to direct a portion of your study to key issues relevant to your practice, in negotiation with the tutor and others. Generic themes will include:

•     Basic physics
•     Electronics
•     Programming
•     Software engineering

Course delivery

This course will be taught as a series of face-to-face sessions taking place either at weekends or evenings. During this time, you will explore a specific area of interest with a range of like-minded media professionals and input from academics and industry guest lecturers. You will also have the opportunity to develop your knowledge further with supported online study during which you will take part in a variety of online exercises, forums and projects. These activities can easily fit around your current professional work.

You will have the option of undertaking an assignment/project and on its successful completion will gain 15 Master’s level credits. If you go on to participate in and pass more of our courses you can accrue credits towards a Postgraduate Certificate, a Postgraduate Diploma or a Master’s.

Course tutor

Your course will be delivered by Brock Craft. Born in Texas, Brock’s research centres on unifying design and interactivity in a variety of physical and digital contexts. His areas of specialist knowledge are Physical Computing, Information Visualisation, Human-Computer Interaction, and participatory design.

Brock is a lecturer in the Department of Computing at Goldsmiths. He completed his PhD in Computer Science at University College London and earned an MS in Human-Computer Interaction from DePaul University in Chicago. In his distinguished career Brock also served as a director at design firm Tinker London, whose founding members were the creators of the Arduino project, an open-source hardware prototyping platform which popularised physical computing for designers and artists.

Brock is a Fellow of the Royal Society for Arts and Manufactures.

When, where and how much?

The course start date is to be confirmed. The course will run on Saturday afternoons, with additional supported online study. You will have access to a Virtual Learning Environment and social networking software enabling team working, peer support and mentoring from industry professionals. The course is delivered at Goldsmiths, University of London in New Cross, South East London. Find out how to get here.

The cost of the course is £600.

Who should take this course?

This course is ideal for anyone wishing to expand their knowledge of programming, interaction design or electronics. This course is intended as an introduction to physical computing, so welcomes those without prior experience in the field, as well as those wishing to develop further skills.

Entry requirements

This course is open to media professionals with an undergraduate degree and the required work experience in a relevant industry (normally a minimum of two years); and to non-graduates with significant and relevant work experience (normally 10 years) who can demonstrate an ability to both complete and benefit from the course. Please contact us if you have queries about your eligibility.

How to apply

Download the online application form and send to Libby Tuson on l.tuson@gold.ac.uk.