CHS: Small: Developing Novel Surface Computing Technologies and Learning Experiences to Engage Underrepresented Youth in STEM

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This project will integrate computation and electronics into murals to explore new paradigms for expression and interaction, while developing new pathways into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) for diverse youth. Murals—a wide diversity of artworks including ancient cave paintings, frescos in European churches, the work of Mexican muralists, and contemporary graffiti—are richly expressive of a community’s values and heritage. This project will leverage the cultural and expressive affordances of murals to develop a new interactive surface computing medium and a new culturally relevant introduction to computing. Community-based arts provide a natural context for compelling introductions to computing and STEM. They provide outlets for personal expression along with unique opportunities for students to explore their own cultural heritage and identity. Murals offer particularly fertile terrain, as highly visible artworks that involve cultural celebration. To engage a diverse student population, this project will be grounded in traditions of mural making with deep roots in the American West and Latin America.The team of researchers, working with a local mural artist and community partners, will develop technologies to make durable outdoor interactive murals and explore the interaction potential of this new medium. The team will use the new surface computing technologies / medium to introduce diverse young people (particularly Latinx and Native American youth) to computing and electronics, by engaging them in designing and creating their own interactive murals. This project will develop: (1) new theories and methods for HCI that integrate community and cultural engagement, novel technology creation, and educational outreach; (2) new frameworks for participatory design, based on new alliances among underrepresented communities and technology developers, which are grounded in existing community practice and new co-design experiences; (3) new technologies for creating durable outdoor interactive surfaces; (4) new interaction techniques and design frameworks for very-large-scale interactive surfaces that are neither screen- nor projection-based; and (5) a new culturally relevant approach to engaging underrepresented youth in computing and insights into the effectiveness of engaging underrepresented youth in STEM by blending culturally relevant art practices with computing.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.