Thesis concept review

My thesis project is an exploration of possible applications for a paper-based human-computer interface. I want to bring back the tactile relationship that we have with paper as a way to interact with the digital world. In order to address this problem I focused on the idea of scrolling as the main paradigm for the interaction and I want to create site-specific installations where users can interact with a screen projected on a surface by scrolling the paper itself.

The project starts from the observation of how paper as a medium is more and more associated with the opposite of technology and innovation, and how it’s being threatened by the diffusion of e-readers and portable touchscreen technologies. With my exploration. My purpose is to stimulate a sense of wonder and discovery, in the attempt to re-purpose a fragile material like paper in the context of the more advanced technological communication forms that we are used to.

The first criterion of success of the project is to be able to develop a simple-enough mechanism for sensing the scrolling of paper, which can be easily replicated. I would like to set up 2 or 3 different installations of this kind of interface, in order to be able to show different applications, which could be for information, art or entertainment purposes.