DEA 6400

AI, Embodiment, and Design

Course Description

Course information provided by the 2025-2026 Catalog.

This graduate-level course examines artificial intelligence (AI) as a critical design medium for rethinking human-computer interaction. Moving beyond conventional HCI paradigms, students will explore how AI and physical interfaces can be merged to align with the complexities of human cognition, behavior, and emotion. We particularly focus on physical designs with AI—considering somatic, sensory, and emotional dimensions that are inherent to us. The resulting designs will explore factors beyond accuracy and performance, incorporating users' experience, individuality, and sense of self as central design considerations. The course challenges the prevailing assumption of humans as information processors. Grounded in HCI theories and human-centered design methodologies, students will engage in seminars, research workshops, and hands-on prototyping to envision future interfaces that are more thoughtful, responsible, and intrinsically aligned with us.

Enrollment Information REF-F25 Priority given to: DEA grad students. Recommended Prerequisites: DEA 5210.

Fees REF-FA25 Supplies, $80. Course fee will cover electronics kit and AI access.

Last 3 terms offered (None)

Learning Outcomes REF-FA25

• Develop knowledge in AI and other computing methods that can be applied in design studios, thesis research, and professional practice.
• Understand the embodied cognitive dimensions of interaction design and identify new opportunities for designs that engage how we feel, think, and act.
• Apply phenomenological and soma design methods to articulate affective, sensory, and behavioral aspects of human experience in artifact-based research.
• Produce a physical design outcome that concerns AI and humans, addressing critical user or human challenges.
• Develop scholarly competencies in academic reading and writing, towards effective scholarly presentations and article writing.

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