Introduction to Computational Media


Final Project Proposal

Final projects are a creative idea inspired by the concepts in this class. There is no requirement to use a particular aspect of programming. The idea and your enjoyment and interest in the idea is what counts. Some things to remember.

  1. Keeping things simple and small in scope is a plus. If your project idea is a big one, consider documenting the larger idea but implementing just a small piece of it.
  2. Also think about making a final project for a small audience, even one single person like a family member or friend. . . or yourself. This can be a good way to focus your idea and design process. “Generalizing” the idea can come later (or maybe not at all.)
  3. Final projects can be collaborations with anyone in any class.
  4. Final projects can be one part of a larger project integrated with Physical Computing or another class.

For my final project I decided to create a visual to the song HiiiPower by Kendrick Lamar.

How it works:

There is a boombox and a flat screen tv preloaded onto the screen. And there are six buttons on the boombox. As you press each button a section of the song will play. Once the song plays the text will play also. In addition to the audio and text pictures relevant to the lyrics will play on the tv.

This is how the screen will first appear.

Once each button is pressed the screen of the tv will display a visual that is specific to the lyrics that are playing.

Once you press another  button the same will happen.









  • Create a sketch with one or more of the following. Feel free to add DOM elements to a previous sketch.
    • Pre-defined HTML Elements
    • Pre-defined CSS Styles
    • HTML Elements generated by your p5 sketch
    • Some kind of mouse interaction with an HTML Element using a callback function you write.
    • If you are feeling ambitious, try replacing a DOM element with a “physical sensor!”
  • Questions you might ask yourself while working on the above.
    • When does it make sense define HTML elements in index.html?
    • When does it make sense to “generate” HTML elements with code in p5?
    • When does it make sense to apply styles in code with the style() function vs. predefined styles in style.css?
  • Next week we will look at working with data and APIs in class. If you feel so inclined you can take a look at some of the video tutorials in advance. Please add a link to a data set or “API” that interests you. You don’t have to know anything about how to use it, but having a list of examples we can examine in class next week will add to the discussion. You can also contribute to this wiki list of data sources.





  1. The idea this week is to explore re-organizing your code. It is 100% legitimate to turn in a version of a previous assignment where nothing changes for the end user, but the code has been restructured. You may, however, choose to try a new experiment from scratch. Aim to keep setup() and draw() as clean as possible, and do everything (all calculations, drawing, etc.) in functions that you create yourself. Possibilities (choose one or more):
    • Break code out of setup() and draw() into functions.
    • Use a function to draw a complex design (like this) multiple times with different arguments.
    • Write a function to that returns the result of a mathematical operation that you need to do several times in your code.
  2. An optional quiz to test your knowledge if you like.




  1. In general this week, you should work with rule-based animation, motion, and interaction. You can use the ideas below or invent your own assignment. Start by working in pairs/groups as determined in class. Try pair programming, 1 person at keyboard, the other keeping overall picture. Can you divide an idea into two parts and combine those parts? Can you swap sketches and riff of of your partner’s work? You can post together or break off and complete the assignment individually.
    • Try making a rollover, button, or slider from scratch. Compare your code to the examples below. Later we’ll look at how this compare to interface elements we’ll get for free from the browser.
    • Create an algorithmic design with simple parameters. (One example is 10PRINT, see: 10PRINT example.
    • Tie the above two together and have an interface element control the visual design or behavior of other elements in your sketch.
  2. Try this quiz if you want to test your knowledge.



reate a sketch that includes (all of these):

  • One element controlled by the mouse.
  • One element that changes over time, independently of the mouse.
  • One element that is different every time you run the sketch.
  • (You can choose to build off of your week 1 design, but I might suggest starting over and working with one or two simple shapes in order to emphasize practicing with variables. See if you can eliminate all (or as much as you can) hard-coded numbers from the sketch.)









  • Write a blog post about how computation applies to your interests. This could be a subject you’ve studied, a job you’ve worked, a personal hobby, or a cause you care about. What projects do you imagine making this term? What projects do you love? (Review and contribute to the ICM Inspiration Wiki page. In the same post (or a new one), document the process of creating your sketches. What pitfalls did you run into? What could you not figure out how to do? How was the experience of using the web editor? Did you post any issues to github?

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