I am the content and design lead, as well as the primary instructional faculty for the Creative Coding Certificate at Portland Community college. Part of this initiative was designing our Interactivity Lab that now serves as a hub for students working at these intersections of art and technology.
PCC’s Interactivity Lab is a maker space housed within the Music and Sonic Arts program in room 223 of the Moriarty Arts & Humanities Building.
The Interactivity Lab supports our Creative Coding courses with 10 full electronics workbenches for work with sensors and microcontrollers, an 8′ by 10′ commercial LED wall, projectors, mappable objects, computer controllable lasers. The Interactivity Lab includes emerging technologies like VR/AR alongside established technologies such as Arduino, sensors, projection mapping and DMX light control. The lab is managed by myself and staffed by students who have obtained these skills in my classes. In the year it’s been open, the lab has already become a vibrant and creative hub of student engagement with technology.