Physical Computing Article Index for
Physical
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Information About

Physical Computing





EXAMPLES


Physical computing is used in a wide variety of domains and applications.


In museums

The Exploratorium , a pioneer in Inquiry Based Learning , developed some of the earliest interactive exhibitry involving computers, and continues to include more and more examples of physical computing and Tangible Interface s as associated technologies progress.


In art

In the art world, projects that implement physical computing include the work of Scott Snibbe , Daniel Rozin , Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and Jonah Brucker-Cohen .


In product design

Physical computing practices also exist in the product and interaction design sphere, where hand-built Embedded System s are sometimes used to rapidly Prototype new digital product concepts in a cost-efficient way. Firms such as IDEO are known to approach Product Design in this way.


In commercial applications

Commercial implementations range from consumer devices such as the Sony Eyetoy or games such as Dance Dance Revolution to more esoteric and pragmatic uses such as Machine Vision used in the automation of quality inspection along a factory Assembly Line . Exergaming can be considered a form of physical computing. Other implementations of physical computing include Voice Recognition , which senses and interprets sound waves via microphones or other soundwave sensing devices, and Computer Vision , which applies algorithms to a rich stream of Video data typically sensed by some form of Camera . Haptic interfaces are also an example of physical computing, though in this case the computer is ''generating'' the physical stimulus as opposed to ''sensing'' it. Both Motion Capture and Gesture Recognition are fields that rely on computer vision to work their magic.


In scientific applications

Physical computing can also describe the fabrication and use of custom sensors or collectors for scientific experiments, though the term is rarely used to describe them as such.


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