Programming computationally enhanced craft items.

摘要

This thesis is a study from a builder's point of view of materials that blend physical objects with computation. Specifically, this study is placed in the context of craft, where the builders are crafters and the materials are computationally enhanced craft items (CECIs). CECIs are traditional craft materials enhanced with behaviors and sufficient computation to control behaviors and to provide end-user programmability.; The question guiding this work is: What are the minimal set of technical solutions that need to be developed in order to make general CECIs programming feasible? An examination of this question falls into two areas.; The first area—creating CECIs—is discussed by considering them as variants of traditional craft materials and examining how they differ from those materials. The prototype CECI created as part of this study are used as concrete examples to identify and explain these differences.; The second area—programming by crafters—is illustrated using a scenario. The issues are expanded and generalized in a discussion of the unique features of the environment in which CECI programming occurs. These features are then used to support a design for a programming language and environment.; The results of this study are presented as detailed specifications for the technical solutions needed to design and develop CECIs and their programming system. Other results of this study include a model for CECIs, an understanding of the role of behaviors as a bridge between computation and physical objects, and an example of a programming language that may apply to user control of other objects that combine physical and computational materials.