Interaction Design and Electronic Arts (IDEA)

New program for 2009

The Interaction Design and Electronic Arts (IDEA) program is the first of its kind in Australia to prepare students in the skills and knowledge of interaction possibilities offered by modern computing technologies.

As technology becomes a greater part of our daily lives, there is a growing need for products, systems and devices that are functional, pleasurable and innovative to fit the needs of the user. The IDEA degree seeks to teach students the possibilities of such technologies and new applications and explore their relation to a number of emerging fields such as biotechnology, sustainability, social networking, global health and cultural diversity.

"I was very encouraged to discover that the University of Sydney is planning a new degree ... Master of Interaction Design and Electronic Arts (M.IDEA). Our present situation is one where the demand for our services in this area (worldwide) is placing enormous strains on our current personnel resources ... The elements that this course is dealing with have now become the cornerstone of many commercial marketing programs. The idea of delivering messages through interesting and engaging technologies is being embraced by many international companies."
CEO Spinifex Interactive www.spinifexinteractive.com
(clients include Lexus, Cisco, Scion, Nissan, Cirque du Soleil and China Mobile)

For current Design Computing & Digital Media students
Interaction Design and Electronic Arts (IDEA) is a new course from 2009 REPLACING Graduate Certificate, Graduate Diploma and Masters of Design Science in DIGITAL MEDIA and DESIGN COMPUTING.
Please download Student Advice document and IDEA degree resolutions for further information.

What does the IDEA Program cover?

The course focuses on four distinct areas:

• Virtual - online immersive cyber worlds and games;
• Screen – from small, mobile devices to architectural media facades;
• Installation - experimental, responsive environments for performance and direct engagement, and;
• Devices - smart artefacts and wearable electronic fashion that sense and inform their wearers; computing embedded in smart everyday objects.

Students will explore how humans behave and will interact with computers, and how art, technology and culture have merged in inspiring forms of media and interactive art. Each design studio unit endeavours to develop the student’s conceptual design abilities, within the framework of research-based and human-centred design.

Program Coordinators: Dr Andrew Vande Moere

Who should apply?

The IDEA program is for students interested in blending computing with humanity. You may come from either a technical or communications background, but either way you have a passion for human-centric design. Your previous degree may be in anything from IT to Computer Science to Design Computing to Industrial Design. We are looking for students who demand to be challenged by the integration of the newest computing technologies and creative design thinking, and who are ready for a cutting-edge future in interaction design and electronic arts.

Admission requirements

Applicants with a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Sydney or equivalent can be admitted to the Master’s Degree. Others will be admitted to the Certificate, eligible for upgrade with a WAM > 70. All admissions are subject to the course quota due to the studio-centred teaching paradigm and opportunities for individually supervised Honours track or capstone graduation studio experience.

Class structure

The IDEA program will consist of small classes of under 40 students, with a student intake from around the globe. Classes are taught in a combination of intensive block mode and weekly sessions. Purpose-built studios and labs ensure students have access to the most advanced software and interaction design equipment.

Course Structure

Students undertaking the Interaction Design and Electronic Arts complete a set program of core units in addition to a predefined set of options units as well as elective units. The program is structured on a 4-semester timetable, with students in the Masters program completing 3 out of the 4 semesters.


Total credit points required
To qualify for the award of the Master of Interaction Design and Electronic Arts, a candidate must successfully complete 72 credit points from units of study, to the limits specified below:

Graduate Certificate: 24
Minimum Core: 18, Minimum Options: 0, Maximum Electives: 6
Graduate Diploma: 48
Minimum Core: 36, Minimum Options: 6, Maximum Electives: 6
Masters: 72
Minimum Core: 54, Minimum Options: 12, Maximum Electives: 6
Masters (Hons): 72
Minimum Core: 60, Minimum Options: 6, Maximum Electives: 6

Study Mode
1.5 Years full time

Electives can come from a range of subject areas within the Faculty of Architecture, Design & Planning as well as other faculties within The University of Sydney.
The University postgraduate units of study reference guide

Interaction Design and Electronic Arts Units

Core Units | Optional Units

• Experimental Interfaces Lab
• Installation Studio
• Physical Computing Lab
• Device Studio
• Virtual Worlds Lab
• Cyber Studio
• Time-based Media Lab
• Screen Studio

IDEA9101 Experimental Interfaces Lab
6 Credit Points, Semester 1 (Odd numbered years only)
Corequisite: IDEA9102
classes: intensive.
The aim of this subject is to support the Installation Studio concerned with interaction, using installation as the experimental interface. The studio encompasses a wide array of advanced, sensor-based interfaces for responsive environments. It supports the learning of important technical skills required to develop the hardware and software necessary for experimenting with sensor-based interfaces.
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IDEA9102 Installation Studio
12 Credit Points, Semester 1 (Odd numbered years only)
Corequisite: IDEA9101
Classes: weekly
The aim of this subject is to explore interaction, using installation as the interface. This investigates the relationship between our environments, bodies and technologies in a practice-led fashion. It evolves a discourse on the next generation of mixed-media installations, involving their history, their evolution, and their cultural context. This studio will provide a platform for students to integrate knowledge of interaction design, multimedia, and advanced sensor technologies within the context of installation art and design. Students will have the opportunity to develop in-depth knowledge through practice by developing prototypes of experimental interfaces on a human scale.
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IDEA9201 Physical Computing Lab
6 Credit Points, Semester 2 (Odd numbered years only)
Corequsite: IDEA9202
Classes: intensive
The aim of this subject is to support the Devices Studio concerned with interaction, using devices, e-fashion/e-jewellery, and ubiquitous computing as the interface. The studio encompasses a wide array of physical computing devices (wearable, mobile, portable, tangible ‘things’ in which the computational technology is embedded in the device or artefact). The lab teaches students technical skills for operating the devices, microprocessors, sensors, other relevant hardware, and the important industry-standard softwares pertinent to the development of physical computing devices, such as object-oriented real-time responsive audio-visual programming environments (e.g. Max/MSP or Processing). In the lab, students will foster their conceptual and skill knowledge necessary for the implementation of ideas borne out in the studio. Hence it will support a number of modes for visual, sonic, textile or material expression of ideas.
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IDEA9202 Device Studio
12 Credit Points, Semester 2 (Odd numbered years only)
Corequisite: IDEA9201
Classes: weekly
The aim of this subject is to explore interaction, using miniature devices as the interface. This encompasses a wide array of physical computing devices, such as wearable, mobile, portable or tangible furniture, garments, jewellery or other artefacts in which computational sensor and actuator technology is embedded. Everyday objects that are able to analyse, respond and mediate our user experience are rapidly permeating the expression, monitoring, customisation and personalisation of professional, industrial, personal and daily activities. This studio will investigate a number of modes for the multi-sensory expression of ideas. The kinds of information represented may range from personal to social and external, for applications ranging from entertainment to health. The studio is offered biennially in odd-numbered years: each time it will revolve around a socially relevant theme. Students will use various computing technologies including sensors, microprocessors and actuators to facilitate the design and development of novel, innovative applications that imbue intelligence, responsiveness and interaction in small-sized physical objects that can be manipulated, worn, used, watched, listened to, in order to communicate physically (in digital or analogue material ways) the message of the interaction.
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IDEA9103 Virtual Worlds Lab
6 Credit Points, Semester 1 (Even numbered years only)
Corequisite: IDEA9104
Classes: intensive
The aim of this subject is to support the Cyber Studio concerned with interaction, using virtual worlds as the interface. This lab introduces design principles and styles, along with virtual world software platforms and their related 3D modelling tools. A range of virtual worlds design styles will be considered with respect to the intended use of the virtual world: collaboration, entertainment, socialising and education. The focus will be on designing for human activities where humans are represented as avatars in interactive, functional, multi-user environments. Students will learn to design an interactive virtual world for a specified activity; to create and compose the 3D models that comprise the world; to program the behaviours of the objects in the virtual world; to critically read research papers; to develop an experimental study on the created virtual world that analyses the behaviour of the avatars.
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IDEA9104 Cyber Studio
12 Credit Points, Semester 1 (Even numbered years only)
Corequisite: IDEA9103
Classes: weekly
The aim of this Unit of Study is to explore interaction, using the virtual world as the interface. Students will develop an understanding of the unique characteristics of designing in and for virtual worlds, taking into consideration the different types of activities that take place in virtual worlds and how avatars move, talk, and interact in virtual worlds.
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IDEA9203 Time-based Media Lab
6 Credit Points, Semester 2 (Even numbered years only)
Corequsite: IDEA9204
Classes: intensive.
The aim of this subject is to support the Screen Studio concerned with interaction, using screen as the interface. The studio aims to present the principles of narrative and language as metaphors for discursive interfaces. This supporting lab develops competence in working with time-based media including digital video production, editing, post-production, special effects, real-time video processing, and text analysis.
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IDEA9204 Screen Studio
12 Credit Points, Semester 2 (Even numbered years only)
Corequisite: IDEA9203
Classes: weekly
This studio aims to present the principles of narrative and language as metaphors for discursive interfaces. Students will produce interactive digital video and/or video art which combine multiple screen-based platforms and the viewer(s) as (an) active part of the video work. The works will be informed by theories drawn from film theory and linguistics. The technical aspects of working with time-based media including digital video production, editing, post-production, special effects, real-time video processing, and text analysis are developed in the associated lab.
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Core Units | Optional Units

• Human Computer Interaction
• Design Thinking
• Art, Technology and Culture
• IDEA Graduation Studio
• IDEA Research Project
• IDEA Dissertation

IDEA9105 Human Computer Interaction
6 Credit Points, Semester 1
Classes: weekly
This unit is a foundation unit that provides a theoretical perspective on the concept of interaction within the Interaction Design and Electronic Arts (IDEA) stream. The aim of this unit of study to introduce Human Computer Interaction (HCI) design principles and methods. It introduces students to valuable tools, techniques, and sources of information about HCI and provides a systematic approach to the design and evaluation of alternative ways in which people interact with various types of computational environments. The course increases awareness of good and bad design through observation of existing technology, and teaches the basic skills of task analysis, and analytic and empirical evaluation methods. Students will learn to apply knowledge of HCI theory and processes by conducting a case study to different types of interfaces; to critically read and examine research papers; to develop an experimental study on one developed or existing human-computer interface; to analyse the interface issues and effectiveness using HCI evaluation techniques.
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IDEA9106 Design Thinking
6 Credit Points, Semester 1
Classes: weekly
The prolific growth of computing and its extensions, including the internet, digital media, interactive entertainment and mobile communication, have stimulated development of new, substantially different design fields. This unit aims to give students, with an interest in this rapidly emerging field, a fuller awareness of designing as both: 1) a holistic but complex cognitive activity by which a designer integrates knowledge and skills, both general and specific to many particular experiences, settings and requirements, to create unique works, and 2) a dynamic process of situated practice in which the designer by intentional acts and unexpected discoveries develops individual “designerly” ways. The subject investigates the mentality of designing, by presenting elements of the theoretical background of creative design, significant issues and the first hand accounts of current practitioners, and by providing the challenge to explore, analyse, reflect upon a diverse array of “designerly” acts. An important aspect of this approach is to enable the arts, technologies, theories and practice of designing in all domains, not only electronic, to be considered as a common discipline.
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IDEA9205 Art, Technology and Culture
6 Credit Points, Semester 2
Classes: weekly
This unit is a foundation unit that provides a theoretical perspective on the core concepts underlying the trans-disciplinary discourse of the Interaction Design and Electronic Arts (IDEA) stream. It aims to create a critical dialogue between the fields of aesthetic expression, cultural history, and emerging computing technologies. The course objectives include the development of a deeper understanding of the complex interactions between modern technology and popular culture, and the conceptualisation and formulisation of the issues arising from these interactions in the creative design process. The subject sets out as an investigatory process, investigating a set of artistic, cultural, and social practices that both constitute and reflect the theoretical foundations of aesthetics, culture, and technology. The investigation is shaped and structured as a platform for discussions, readings, screenings, writings, concept proposals and presentations.
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IDEA9301 IDEA Graduation Studio
48 Credit Points, Semester 1 & 2
Permission is required for enrolment and only available to MIDEA students who have passed 48 Credit Points with including 24 credit points from IDEA9102, IDEA9104, IDEA9202 and IDEA9204.
This is the culminating studio of the Master of Interaction Design and Electronic Arts that provides students with a capstone experience. The aim of this studio is to draw together and synthesise the learning that has taken place during the whole degree.

Students may select from one of the following three options:
A. Graduation Studio: Develop a graduation design project based on the theme from the concurrent studio. The design project must exceed the normal submission requirements of the studio by bringing together the knowledge acquired during the whole degree in a more sophisticated, rigorous result and a more detailed documentation.
B. Creative Internship: Individually organise an internship (minimum 200 hours) as a creative participant in a relevant firm or external organisation. Please refer to the guidelines mentioned in DESC9153 Graduate Internship.
C. International Exchange: Individually organise an approved University of Sydney international exchange at a related Design Faculty or Department. Refer to the Faculty Handbook chapter on Postgraduate Overseas Exchange.

In all cases, the project undertaken in the Graduation Studio will be supported by an in-depth artistic reflection or written report demonstrating the independent exploration of relevant theories and issues raised during the design.
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IDEA9302 IDEA Research Project (Honours Units)
48 Credit Points, Semester 1 & 2
Permission is required for enrolment and only available to MIDEA students who have passed 48 Credit Points with a Weighted Average Mark of 70.
Research Project is one of two units of study required for the award of the Master Interaction Design and Electronic Arts with honours. The two units are not assessed separately, as a single result is given for the combined thesis and project. Admission in this unit is merit-based and requires a minimum Weighted Average Mark (WAM) of 75.

The appointment of a supervisor depends on the research topic chosen for the dissertation by the student. On the successful completion of this unit, students will have demonstrated: an ability to develop a theoretical, practice-based or research project in the field of Interaction Design or Electronic Arts; an ability to undertake this project in an independent way, incorporating all technical and theoretical aspects appropriate and related to the previous units of study taken, and an ability to communicate and present their ideas embedded in the appropriate theoretical foundation.

The research project will be assessed by a minimum of two independent academic examiners on the merits of its underlying design rationale or original conceptual thinking, its implementation in the form of software, hardware, theoretical discourse or other physical manifestation.
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IDEA9303 IDEA Dissertation (Honours Unit)
48 Credit Points, Semester 1 & 2
Permission is required for enrolment and only available to MIDEA students who have passed 48 Credit Points with a Weighted Average Mark of 70.

Research Dissertation is one of two units of study required for the award of Master of Interaction Design and Electronic Arts with Honours. The two units are not assessed separately, as a single result is given for the combined dissertation and project. Admission in this unit is merit-based and requires a minimum Weighted Average Mark (WAM) of 75.

A research thesis should be 15,000 to 25,000 words in length, or equivalent in the form of software programming, hardware development or any other artefacts that can be construed as research. The research dissertation will be assessed by a minimum of two independent academic examiners on the merits of its documented design rationale, empirical evaluation, analysis or description within related theories or critical reflection, and the presentation, using appropriate visual, written, verbal and multimedia presentation techniques.
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For more information
Please register for more information about the new Master of Interaction Design and Electronic Arts program.
Jonathan Hulme

+61 2 9351 2686