Week+7

**Write four paragraphs to define the term 'physical computing'. (4 paragraphs)**

Physical computing is the process of taking non-digital medians and transforming them into digital means in order to simplify a process. By doing so it creates an opportunity to utilize the good of physical devices without actually having the physical device presently there.

Physical computing is designed in a way that it operates with the humans physical multisensory operations digitally allowing the physical process of comparing, processing and evaluating become much less complex on an everyday basis.

Physical computing is largely represented based on physical senses which we use on a daily basis. In the videos it illustrates the usage of senses through such examples of touch, seeing and listening, allowing the user to become more interactive with the physical goods itself.

Physical computing is going to be occurring in the near future as it is still in the bodystorming and evaluation process stage where we can make it user friendly, accessible to the general public and make the technology affordable so that this method does provide a service, rather than a costly ineffective burden to the consumers


 * Here are two links to videos describing new authoring devices for prototyping, which include software and technical information. Write two paragraphs each describing their prototyping methods, and describing what they are enabled to do. (4 paragraphs)**

A prototyping method which is used in d.tools includes a 3 step process in which they go through the different aspects evaluating the needs and desires of the output by using test subjects and participants, followed by building prototypes and testing them in the classroom.

They first start with the design to create a model of an operational tool which can be used by the consumers to simplify or enhance their current process. They then test it to verify if the model is compatible with the program in which they have designed, by evaluating and recording the process. They then finally analyze it in a particular way to see that the product itself interacts the way that it was designed and meant to work, allowing others to test the device.  The prototyping method in which they use interaction through sensors are broken down into more processing steps allowing the complete model to be evaluated through many stages and steps allowing minimal room for error, resulting in very small room for error.

The method in which they used here consists of multi layered application in which some of the following are included. The first step includes motivation since it includes a long process of trial and error in which you need patience. The next step would be designing the examplar to make sure that it operates in a manner to which it was authored by testing it. The step would be to test the scenario by creating a prototype of the device allowing it to perform based on the way it was designed, allowing you to discover interesting events which you didn’t know of. The next step would be output so that it can utilize software which has been pre loaded/configured to generate hardware output. We refine these products by filtering out bugs to tweak them to perform in our desired ways. Then we can add advanced features such by adding new or modifying the filters so that they can override and perform in the way we desire. At the end we must evaluate them by giving them to participants by seeing how they react and think compared to the designers, and possibly take new ideas and thoughts into consideration.