PILOT: Construction Made Simple(r): Interfaces, Devices, and Infrastructure for Beginning Fabrication

这个项目通过个人制作和建造来解决目前创意设计研究的空白。目前，很少有人了解是什么使（或阻止）用户更好地利用现有的制造工具；关于如何扩展制造设备空间以适应传统和非传统工艺项目的探索就更少了；关于如何在“无形”创作（视频、照片、文件）的网络社区成功的基础上，培育有形创作社区的讨论也很少。该项目扩展了可访问制造的可能性，以开发界面，个人设备和基础设施的原型，这些原型将在“初学者”手中展示建筑的力量和潜力。这个试点项目的目标是创造各种各样的小规模创新，这些创新可以在不久的将来为更大、更长期的项目提供种子。界面方面的工作将侧重于输入设备和软件工具的设计；这里的目标是使人们（包括儿童）能够使用现有的制造设备创建对象。个人设备方面的工作将侧重于针对小型个人工艺项目的新型制造设备的原型设计。基础设施方面的工作将集中于基于web的软件系统的创建，目的是在儿童、学生和业余爱好者中建立自我支持的制作社区。通过这些多重目标，本项目寻求为更雄心勃勃的研究项目确定（潜在广泛的）各种主题，并在计算机科学和教育技术社区中激发对这些问题的更广泛的兴趣。

This project addresses the current gap in research on creative design through personal fabrication and construction. At present, there is very little understanding of what enables (or prevents) users from making greater use of existing fabrication tools; there is even less exploration of how to expand the space of fabrication devices to accommodate both traditional and non-traditional crafting projects; and there is little discussion of how to build on the successes of web-based communities for "intangible" creations (videos, photographs, documents) to nurture communities for physical, tangible creations. This project expands the possibilities of accessible fabrication to develop prototypes of interfaces, personal devices, and infrastructure that will illustrate the power and potential of construction when placed in the hands of "beginners". The goal of this pilot project is to create a wide variety of small-scale innovations that can seed larger and longer-term projects in the near future. Work in interfaces will focus on the design of input devices and software tools; the goal here is to enable people (including children) to create objects using existing fabrication devices. Work in personal devices will focus on prototyping novel fabrication devices geared toward small-scale, individual craft projects. Work in infrastructure will focus on the creation of web-based software systems aimed at building self-supporting fabrication communities among children, students, and hobbyists. Through these multiple aims, this project seeks both to identify a (potentially wide) variety of topics for more ambitious research projects and to spark more widespread interest in these issues in the computer science and educational technology communities.