Winter 2027
Exploring Wearables: Creative Prototyping with Sensors, Haptics, and IoT
Instructors: Samatha Speer and Brock Craft
What new interactions become possible when the things we wear can sense, respond, and communicate with each other? This DRG investigates that question through hands-on experimentation. Over ten weeks, we will explore hardware tools and platforms for wearable interaction, including Arduino and ESP32 microcontrollers, sensors, haptic actuators, and IoT data platforms. We don't know what all of these tools can do yet, and we will not focus on teaching you how these platforms work! Part of the work is figuring out together what they can do, where they fall short, and what creative and playful interactions are possible.
This DRG is exploratory by design, with no fixed project or research question. Each week, students will try a new tool or technique, build quick prototypes, and share what they found. Students will document their work on GitHub and on a group website, and present their prototypes at a showcase at the end of the quarter. All hardware is provided, and we will work in the MakeLab (Sieg 129) and a classroom. Students should have hardware prototyping experience, preferably from HCDE 439 or an equivalent course, and be comfortable writing code or co-coding with AI. This DRG suits students who like to experiment, teach themselves new tools, and pursue ideas that might not work.
Enrollment information
- Credits: 2
- Meeting times: Fridays, 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.
- Who should apply: Undergraduate students with hardware prototyping experience (HCDE 439 or equivalent) who are comfortable troubleshooting hardware, writing code, and are ok not knowing the answers.
- This DRG does not count toward the research requirement for PhD students.
- Apply via this Google Form
- Application deadline: December 11, 2026
- Anticipated notification deadline: December 18, 2026.
- Questions? Brock Craft (bcraft@uw.edu) or Samantha Speer (snspeer@uw.edu)