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RESEARCH

Expressive Computation Lab

Professor Jennifer Jacobs

Rooms 2024 and 2005, Elings Hall

Website: ecl.mat.ucsb.edu

The Expressive Computation Lab (ECL) is a research group within the Media Arts and Technology Department at the University of California Santa Barbara directed by Prof. Jennifer Jacobs. The lab is based in the California NanoSystems Institute and is affiliated with the Four Eyes Lab in MAT and Computer Science and the Center for Interactive and Visual Computing (CIVC).

Expressive Computation Lab

ECL's objective is to foster the development of expressive computational tools for art, design, and engineering. We envision a future for computational production where software and hardware tools are truly shaped by the people who use them. In line with this vision, ECG builds new computational tools that enable artists, designers, and engineers to integrate core computational affordances with their own knowledge and practices. We create new hardware and software interfaces that allow practitioners to combine computational abstraction, automation, and generativity with direct-manipulation, manual control, and physical materials. We develop domain-specific programming languages that allow practitioners to extend and modify software tools as they create. In the course of our research, we explore new methods to integrate iterative systems engineering with professional creative practices.

Interested in joining the Expressive Computation Lab?

ECL is seeking PhD students in MAT or CS for the 2020-2021 academic year. Candidates should have a solid technical background and a strong interest in art, design, or manufacturing applications of computation. Interested candidates should contact us.

Expressive Computation Lab
Expressive Computation Lab
Expressive Computation Lab
Expressive Computation Lab

Selected Publications

Jennifer Jacobs, Joel Brandt, Radomir Mech, and Mitchel Resnick. Extending Manual Drawing Practices with Artist-Centric Programming Tools In Proceedings of the ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Montreal, QC, Canada, April 2018.

Jennifer Jacobs, Sumit Gogia, Radomir Mech, and Joel Brandt. Supporting Expressive Procedural Art Creation through Direct Manipulation. In Proceedings of the ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Denver, Colorado, USA, April 2017.

Jennifer Jacobs and Amit Zoran Hybrid Practice in the Kalahari: Design Collaboration Through Digital Tools and Hunter Gatherer Craft. In Proceedings of the ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Seoul, Korea, April 2015.

Jennifer Jacobs and Leah Buechley Codeable Objects: Computational Design and Digital Fabrication for Novice Programmers. Proceedings of the ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Paris, France, April 2013.