Tagged: English

I arrived in Stockholm today, four years ago. Never thought I’d stay this long. At the beginning, I thought it was going to be just two years (or as I’d like to say it before, 100 weeks) of Master’s study. But here I am now, two years into the PhD programme. It has been a very important four years: a period of change and transition, even when at times the transition seemed to be backwards. – One of the main theme of this period is a sense of closure and resolution. It’s a closure of a decade long journey started...

This is part 4 (last) of a series started here. 4. Social study of media technology These two courses were not mandatory. They were not even from my programme. As soon as I knew that my mandatory and elective courses quota is fulfilled, I looked beyond my programme and department to find interesting courses. Science Goes Fiction: Science Fiction, Film, and Technological Futures in a Historical Perspective (link) Future of Media In Science Goes Fiction, I got to watch a science fiction film every week and wrote on a topic related to the film as the assignments. Of course, the films were...

This is part 3 of a series started here. 3. Interaction design These courses were taken with the consideration of building a future career in interaction design / UX design. Interaction Design Methods (link) Interaction Design as a Reflective Practice (link) Physical Interaction Design and Realization (link) Interaction Design Methods course provided the basic knowledge of how an interaction designer works. Different types of designs were discussed (commercial design, experimental design, responsible design, discursive design), along with methods development (i.e: agile) and evaluation. One key concept from this course that I have used in many following courses is the Double Diamond...

This is part 2 of a series started here. 2. Sound and music I’ve worked as sound designer for a while back home, and I just want to learn more. Audio Technology (link) Sound in Interaction (link) Musical Communication and Music Technology (link) Audio Technology was the most difficult course I had during these two years period. There were lots of physics on acoustics and signal processing, covering topics from analog to digital conversion, audio coding and compression, to 3D sound. Sound in Interaction course focused sound as information carrier. Sound is used extensively in our interaction with technology, from smartphone notification sound to feedback of our...

I like the idea of having 2-year goals, only because there’s a nice round 100-week period in it (plus the extra 4 weeks for holiday). And I have just finished one of those periods, namely the Master’s Programme of Interactive Media Technology at KTH, Stockholm. As a closure, I would like to reflect on the courses I took. There are several tracks / specializations to choose from in the programme,  and I tailored my courses as a mix between interaction design and sonic media (have a look here for more info on the programme). Looking back, I think my courses could be grouped into 5 categories....