This Expertise course is a collaboration with the Hybrid Things Lab at Augsburg University of Applied Sciences, with a strong focus on embodied human-machine interaction and the AUDI AG, Ingolstadt. It wants to explore the transformation,manipulation and interaction of materials and their properties. The aim is to develop digital processes, like specific patterns for laser-cutting or 3D-printing, in order to manipulate, change or transform certain material properties like flexibility, strength, transparency, surface, etc. For example, a solid sheet material can gain almost textile qualities by simply cutting particular openings or geometries into its surface. 3D-printed lattice structures can behave like meta-materials, with very different physical properties than traditional materials. The control of the transformative behavior through developing the (two-dimensional) pattern together with low-tech sensors (for example light, heat, distance) and actuators (for example light and motion) is at the core of this course.

Questions to explore:

- What patterns/structures result in what kind of material transformation?

- What materials and fabrication processes are most appropriate and sustainable?

- What sort of input/interaction causes the change/transformation?

- Could this transformation become automated through kinetic mechanisms?

- What are potential applications and products?

The course will focus on the physical exploration of materials and their transformation using digital and sustainable fabrication technologies. Each group should produce at least one 1:1 functional prototype in appropriate size and scale and develop ideas and concepts of practical applications or uses.