Courses

Students learn the essential skills of postgraduate-level research in areas of digital media and computational arts, and attain core literacies in mathematical and computational bases for digital media to support applications spanning areas including sound, image, and digital signal processing, 3D environments and the graphics pipeline, software design, simulation and complex systems, etc. These literacies are contextualized by reference to exemplary projects in diverse practices such as computational art, music, video games, information visualization, web-based media, responsive architecture, physical computing, etc., including the examination of landmark texts and projects in digital media, computational arts and culture spanning the past century, addressing the continual overlap between artistic and scientific practices. Literacy is evaluated through the ability to understand and transfer published research in these fields into creative applications, recreating established research results, projects, or through works of specific interest to the student’s research area(s).

Students lead a team of Masters students working collaboratively on a large-scale project that tackles a well-defined research problem spanning art and science methods and practices. Students are expected to take leadership roles. The problem domain will be defined by contexts such as a research laboratory of a Digital Media faculty member or an outside organization, in order to explore a range of research approaches and issues, professional and research ethics, and reflective practice within academic, professional and arts contexts. An important component is the discussion of critical issues related to cultural interactions with new and emerging technologies, including an appreciation of how art-making practices have shaped, and been shaped by, trajectories of technological change. Advanced Vertical Studio/Lab I is normally be taken in the second year of the program. There is a possibility for student teams to be co-supervised by program faculty and a program associate, which is a practitioner from an outside organization (for-profit -Ubisoft, not-for-profit, NGO, arts festival, trade organization, artist collective, design group, museum, MCC). Program associates may not be the sole supervisor.

Students lead a team of Masters students working collaboratively on a large-scale project that tackles a well-defined research problem spanning art and science methods and practices. Students are expected to take leadership roles. The problem domain will be defined by contexts such as a research laboratory of a Digital Media faculty member or an outside organization, in order to explore a range of research approaches and issues, professional and research ethics, and reflective practice within academic, professional and arts contexts. An important component is the discussion of critical issues related to cultural interactions with new and emerging technologies, including an appreciation of how art-making practices have shaped, and been shaped by, trajectories of technological change. Advanced Vertical Studio/Lab I is normally be taken in the second year of the program. There is a possibility for student teams to be co-supervised by program faculty and a program associate, which is a practitioner from an outside organization (for-profit -Ubisoft, not-for-profit, NGO, arts festival, trade organization, artist collective, design group, museum, MCC). Program associates may not be the sole supervisor.

This course engages an active Electro-Acoustic performing ensemble as a site for composing interactive performance systems that may be purely digital, hybrid electronic/acoustic, or may manifest across multiple media including spatialized light, sound, haptics and projected visuals. Students develop and perform with an interactive system, iteratively refining this over the course of the term. This 'digital instrumental system' is tested weekly in a performative context defined by rehearsals of the Electro-Acoustic Orchestra. Design and composition of instrumental systems centre around performer or conductor gestures via sensing and new controllers, or around sounds generated by ensemble members. Topics explored include movement and gesture in electroacoustic music, sound analysis and processing, digital instrument design, and the aesthetics of interactive music/media performance practice. Interactive performance systems from the course will be presented in public concerts each term, both on York campus as well as at venues in downtown Toronto. Cross-listed with GS/MUSI 5070 3.0.

This course prepares students to compose and perform interactive music and sound art using computational means. Students learn the fundamental programming techniques required to realize algorithmic music compositions and interactive performance systems. Following the paradigms of composer/performer and of the composed-instrument, students' projects focus on writing an interactive composition (solo or ensemble) for their classmates, and developing an interactive performance system for personal expression. Topics include orientation to algorithmic composition principles, sound analysis/processing/synthesis methods, developing new interfaces for musical expression, and fundamentals of acoustics and auditory perception as they relate to computational music and sonic art creation. Contemporary research-creation practices in these arts are introduced, and contextualized relative to the rich historical, aesthetic and conceptual literature in the field of Computer Music. Integrated with DATT/MUSI 4071.

This course examines immersive narratives born from physical environments through the study of techniques used in immersive theatre, live action role-play (LARP), Nordic LARP, or parlour role playing games. Students will use these techniques to explore the use of game engines, projection mapping, fabricated objects, and interactive sound to design games that combine digital and non-digital spaces. Integrated with undergraduate course FA/DATT 4310 3.0.

Introduces advanced topics in physical computing such as circuit board design, embedded computing, and communications, among other topics. Works created in this course will place emphasis on research-creation in the development of large-scale installation-based projects that explore the intersection of the physical and virtual worlds. This could include interactive architecture, responsive/interactive installation, and immersive experiences. During the course students will work in groups to develop a substantive work for public presentation. This course is integrated with FA/DATT 4010 3.0.

This course addresses computation as a creative medium from a biologically-inspired standpoint to develop artworks, adaptive media and simulations approaching the fascinating complexity of nature. Integrated with the undergraduate course DATT 4950 3.0.

Introduces students to the creative applications of Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in computational arts, with a particular focus on audiovisual art. Moving beyond the direct use of outputs generated by off-the-shelf AI tools through prompts, this course emphasizes a deeper engagement with ML/AI by incorporating open-source models and tools into the art-making process.

Students have the option of taking a Directed Reading course with any faculty member appointed to the Program, provided a suitable graduate course is not available in the current curriculum, and provided the course does not overlap significantly with a course taken previously. In all cases, the course will be directly relevant to the student’s thesis/dissertation project.

Students have the option of taking a Directed Reading course with any faculty member appointed to the Program, provided a suitable graduate course is not available in the current curriculum, and provided the course does not overlap significantly with a course taken previously. In all cases, the course will be directly relevant to the student’s thesis/dissertation project.

Students have the option of taking a Directed Reading course with any faculty member appointed to the Program, provided a suitable graduate course is not available in the current curriculum, and provided the course does not overlap significantly with a course taken previously. In all cases, the course will be directly relevant to the student’s thesis/dissertation project.

Students lead a team of Masters students working collaboratively on a large-scale project that tackles a well-defined research problem spanning art and science methods and practices. Students are expected to take leadership roles. The problem domain is defined by contexts such as a research laboratory of a Digital Media faculty member or an outside organization, in order to explore a range of research approaches and issues, professional and research ethics, and reflective practice within academic, professional and arts contexts. An important component is the discussion of critical issues related to cultural interactions with new and emerging technologies, including an appreciation of how art-making practices have shaped, and been shaped by, trajectories of technological change. Advanced Vertical Studio/Lab I will normally be taken in the second year of the program. There is a possibility for student teams to be co-supervised by program faculty and a program associate, which is a practitioner from an outside organization (for-profit -Ubisoft, not-for-profit, NGO, arts festival, trade organization, artist collective, design group, museum, MCC). Program associates may not be the sole supervisor.

Students lead a team of Masters students working collaboratively on a large-scale project that tackles a well-defined research problem spanning art and science methods and practices. Students are expected to take leadership roles. The problem domain is defined by contexts such as a research laboratory of a Digital Media faculty member or an outside organization, in order to explore a range of research approaches and issues, professional and research ethics, and reflective practice within academic, professional and arts contexts. An important component is the discussion of critical issues related to cultural interactions with new and emerging technologies, including an appreciation of how art-making practices have shaped, and been shaped by, trajectories of technological change. Advanced Vertical Studio/Lab I will normally be taken in the second year of the program. There is a possibility for student teams to be co-supervised by program faculty and a program associate, which is a practitioner from an outside organization (for-profit -Ubisoft, not-for-profit, NGO, arts festival, trade organization, artist collective, design group, museum, MCC). Program associates may not be the sole supervisor.

In this course, students incrementally develop an advanced interactive system for sound-based performance, using hardware and software, that draws on approaches from the fields of electroacoustics, computer music, and the sonic arts. Topics include generative composition, sound analysis/synthesis, machine learning for sound, digital instrument design, acoustics, auditory perception, and digital performance practice.

In this vertical workshop course students develop creative sample-level synthesis algorithms, uses prototyping tools widely adopted in industrial and creative community settings, into distributable final projects such as: adaptive sound generators for video games; new embedded hardware for guitar pedals, modular synthesizers, or interactive art installations; embedding in web-native projects; or creating plugins for desktop software.