DE 603-604 Thesis Project

The thesis project DE 603 / DE 604 courses provide a supportive context for the development of the project component of the thesis. The class limited to 5 students, is a forum to articulate and debate the issues associated with individual thesis projects. The work in class is structured by a specific agreement between the student and faculty advisor, who guides the program of study, and provides ongoing feedback and evaluation. The student select a particular course/faculty upon approval of the preliminary thesis proposals. The faculty advisors may further define their own specific criteria, process and schedule of thesis development.

Selected Work from the DMI Archive:

Samsara :: By Lawrence, Elizabeth

Part play, part personal myth, part decision-making tool, Samsara is a genetic alteration of the tarot card species. Ancient divination systems like the I-Ching and tarot were ahead of their time as interactive narrative systems, being based on principles...

Proximity Lab :: By Karatzas, Evan

Built on the premise that physical proximity is a basic unit of social communication, this study seeks to examine the role of physical interaction in social communication. The study seeks to stimulate inquiry on this topic through facilitated experiences...

Animation, Motion and Education :: By Griffey, Julia

If our bodies know something our minds do not, can the knowledge in our bodies help out our minds? Helen Gummerseimer thought so. Mrs. Gummerseimer was my second grade teacher who taught us the “pronoun-a-la-go-go” to help us learn...

Interactive Mat / Memory Game :: By Griffey, Julia

The interactive memory game was inspired by the phenomenon of DDR I witnessed when making the documentary in the summer of 2003. I wanted to try to make a game that would get players to use their entire body...

What A Game? A DDR Documentary :: By Griffey, Julia

"Dance, Dance, Revolution," (DDR), an arcade game made by the Japanese company Kaomi, is the one of the most successful of the physical game genre. While the American version of DDR has only been in existence since 2001, it...

Market Garden :: By Pillsbury, Christine

I've been spending so much of my time here at MassArt experimenting with "Interactive Narrative" -- trying to find useful ways to essentially treat the qualitative as quantitative. Dissecting the aspects of story and trying to create "systems" that...

911: Hyper-Cinema Interactive Documentary :: By Pillsbury, Christine

We live in a time where the barrage of visual, and sometimes other sensory, media has a direct effect on our human ability to connect with a given subject matter. Whether or not this has a positive or negative...

Hydroponica :: By Pillsbury, Christine

The user enters the circular meditation chamber and is directed to sit by the only light illuminating from the screen highlighting the pillow seat before the interface. Before her is a rear projected blue grid of circles behind an...

Kod Book Interactive :: By Nazemi, Kate

Digital code is the requisite material used by scientists to process information and produce results, and now by artists who use it as a creative tool. Here, we find a link between two seemingly disparate disciplines. But the connection...

Visual Elements Of Motion Capture :: By Montague, Sam

The purpose of this thesis is to gain a better understanding of the visual language and technology used to delineate and understand motion. This study is helping the designer identify and understand the parametric range of possibilities for captured motion...

Interactive Media And The Poetic :: By Wiggins, Mike

I am interested in the capacity of interactive media to communicate the poetic. By poetic I am referring to the ability of language to communicate concepts that live only in the mind like fear, success or jealousy - in...

Digital Soundscape :: By Mitchell, Leila

The thesis proposes the addition of sonic characteristics to describe a place within a digital environment. The investigation looks at architectural design principles, sound theory and applications in actual, virtual, and hybrid environments. Emerging from this contextual framework and fueled...

Body Data / Data Body :: By Blanco, Julio

Illness Narratives have become an important practice employed to help bridge the medical and individual experience of illness. For the benefit of ill persons, this thesis proposes a self-referential exploration of Illness Narratives through dynamic media. The individual experiencing...

Dynamic Visual Formation :: By Meirelles, Isabel

Like the inquiries on visual form carried out by Kandinsky and Klee in the beginning of the 20th century, the thesis searches for the most elemental constituents of "visual formation" in the computer environment....

Journey Through India: An Interactive Documentary :: By Shaw, Heather

This thesis is an experimental documentary about a 3-month journey through India. By giving the viewer unique methods for accessing and experiencing content, choosing their own path within a defined structure, and essentially learn through discovery, therein lies a unique...

Boddhisattva. A Holistic Interactive Experience. :: By Garrido, Geraldine

This thesis explores different theories of systems in the context of communication design. Through interactive environment created by a designer the participant explores complex relationships of multi-sensory perception and interactive experience of information. That process enriches and amplifies the participant’s...

Envisioning The Human Brain :: By Su, Fenya

The goal of this thesis is to provide visualization solutions for scientists to facilitate the brain imaging data. Specifically, this thesis studies the advantages of dynamic representation and enhanced interaction to support exploratory analysis of spatiotemporal data. This thesis...

OCME Interactive :: By Crawford, Coleen

This thesis is an interactive desktop application, meeting the needs of multiple users within the field of forensic science. The process of design began with an ethnographic approach and the concept of participatory design, enabling the designer to prototype a...

A Journey Through India :: By Shaw, Heather

A Journey Through India approaches interactive documentary from the point of view of the designer as author. This body of work refutes an “all-in-one” formula for approaching interactive documentary, and supports the need for distinct authorship. This work proposes...

Ourvisualvoice :: By McMurray, Kelly

This thesis is a cohesive education and communication program designed to introduce youth to the importance of visual communication and new media as a means for expression, exposure, feedback, and directed discussions. The program in a new and unique...

Decoding Visual Language of News :: By Brigham, Kate

As consumers of information, we must develop sophisticated visual skills to understand the power, the practices, and the techniques employed by the news media in presenting visual information. This thesis presents an interactive prototype for the critical analysis of...

The ATE Conference: Massaging Media :: By Richland, Judith

This thesis explores the role and value of collaboration in teaching new media. This study examines the interplay between the core team, outside consultants, and renown speakers who participated in the Massaging Media conference - the first major event...

OTO (One To One) :: By Candelas, Alex

This thesis proposes a shared learning environment that helps bridge the gap between parents, teachers and students. OTO is an interactive tool that assists students in their homework assignments. An engaging array of on-screen representations address each individual student’s...

OTO (One To One) :: By Candelas, Alex

ASL learning tool :: By Jang, Dong-Keun

The project aims at creating an online community which supports families of very young deaf children. It specifically focuses on creating an online educational environment in which parents and family members of deaf children can learn American Sign Language....

Tool For Online Collaboration :: By Albrecht, Dirk

This project is an interactive prototype of an online tool for design collaboration of virtual teams. Specifically geared toward industrial design departments, the tool provides various modes of on-screen presentation and discussion among students, tutors and consultants....

The Zhi Project :: By Li, Jun

This project is an interactive tool to learn the structure of Chinese characters for English speaking adults and focuses on one of the crucial methods of constructing and understanding Chinese characters: the Radical-Phonetic method.. The content includes character components...

Interactive Closed-Captioning :: By St. Cyr, Chris

If interactive television is to succeed it must build upon the history of practical uses of such multimedia elements as captions. By providing the individuals with the flexibility of interactive closed-captioning, the viewers will be able to personalize their...

HyperNarrative :: By Miller, Dori

This project is a case study for an interactive, nonlinear interface for analyzing linear film. An existing movie - "Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould" - was converted into an interactive information structure. The interface focuses on the...

Wind Park Proposal :: By Chen, Chang Ming

The proposed site-specific facility (on one of the Boston Harbor islands) offers a learning experience for children and adults through exhibits and activities highlighting the history, mythology, physics and applications of wind. Wind Park visitors are given an opportunity...