Schedule of Programs:

Data Visualization + AI Exhibition
Center for Design
All Day

Registration is not required.

Exhibitions by Derek Curry, Steven Geofrey, Jennifer Gradecki, Ilya Vidrin and Kelin Zhang.

View and interact with three data visualization and AI-related projects, Deconstructing Proxies by Steven Geofrey and Ilya Vidrin, Generative Persuasion by Jennifer Gradecki and Derek Curry and Poetry Camera by Kelin Zhang.

Deconstructing Proxies, authored by Steven Geofrey and Ilya Vidrin and based on the choreographic work titled Proxies produced by Vidrin, is a case study on interactions between dance, technology and design. The exhibition will demonstrate how Proxies investigates the use of data visualization to translate data captured by wearable pressure sensors into a real-time visual representation that renders visible the invisible dimensions of somatic partnering.

Generative Persuasion, a collaboration between Jennifer Gradecki and Derek Curry, is an interactive installation that invites viewers to generate tailored propaganda and conspiracy theories on a military-style portable computing center using advanced artificial intelligence and personality-based microtargeting. The project revels how effective LLMs are at generating inauthentic content designed to influence politics or polarize the public.

Poetry Camera is a camera that prints poems of what it sees. It is a toy for creative experimentation with Large Language Models, inviting the photographer to see the world around them in a new light.

Data, Algorithms, Sound and Design (Research)
Raytheon Amphitheater
9 – 11 AM

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Presentations by Paolo Ciuccarelli, Sara Lenzi, Israel Salmon Ruiz and Aiur Retegi Uria. Participation from Fábio Duarte and Simone Mora.

As an intentional, design-driven approach to data sonification continues to evolve at the intersection of scientific analysis and artistic exploration, this session highlights emerging research directions and community-driven initiatives, with topics ranging from autographic sonification to the application of machine learning in machine listening. Updates from the field include the Data Sonification Archive, now featuring over 500 projects; the newly launched Data Sonification Awards, which received 80+ applications and engaged 15 jurors; and the Dagstuhl seminar, “What You Hear is What You See? Integrating Sonification and Visualization,” where faculty, scholars, and researchers from more than 20 institutions examined the integration of data sonification and visualization.

In addition to these discussions, a hands-on activity invites students, faculty, and practitioners to explore how soundscape analysis can support sustainability in the textile industry. While Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) offers critical environmental insights, it is a slow and retrospective process. By contrast, machine learning-driven sound analysis can provide real-time diagnostics, identifying inefficiencies in manufacturing by detecting patterns in machinery and production noise. It is well known that the textile industry consumes large amounts of water and energy and, consequently, generates wastewater and energy waste that requires comprehensive intervention. Circularity, therefore, becomes a necessary avenue to achieve the minimization of the planet’s finite resources waste while guaranteeing the social and financial sustainability of the sector. For this purpose, the state-of-the-art tool applied is the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and the related water, carbon or energy footprints, which provide a diagnosis of the situation and allow the proposal of environmental (and, consequently, socioeconomic) improvements. However, LCA is a complex and asynchronous process that requires data collection over a long period of time. While many industries carry out these assessments on a regular basis, they are still far from providing real-time information which would dramatically increase the stakeholders’ agency and the possibility to optimize water and energy consumption – and the consequent footprint – of a production facility. Recent research has shown that the analysis of the soundscape in an indoor environment (i.e. the sounds produced by the different agents such as humans or machines) are a valuable source of information: for instance, the sound of an engine can inform listeners on its correct functioning. If automatized by leveraging ML techniques, soundscape analysis can provide users with insights on the ‘auditory footprint’ of sound events which, conversely, provide information on the actions that are behind the sound – for instance, the different steps of a production chain. During this activity at the DRW we invite participants to brainstorm – starting from a collection of sound recordings from a shoe manufacturing plan – on the ‘autographic’ value of audio data, potential technological solutions that include Machine Listening techniques, other application scenarios, and the relationship between data, sound, and sustainability.

Incorporating Data, Algorithms and Systems in Design Teaching
Raytheon Amphitheater
12 – 1:30 PM

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Panel discussion with Paolo Ciuccarelli, Hugh Dubberly, Nathan Felde, Jodi Forlizzi, Eric Paulos, Kyle Steinfeld and Kelin Zhang.

The information revolution is accelerating an ongoing transformation of culture, society, markets, and politics. It continues to change how we work, learn, play, spend, vote… and design.

Design practice and teaching have long grappled with “computing,” first as a new tool, then as a new communications medium, and now as a new material that can augment existing systems and enable new ones.

This panel will discuss early efforts to incorporate data, algorithms and systems into design learning-by-doing, as well as historical roots of thinking-by-making with information, and possible futures.

Media Studios Organization Tour
Immersive Media Lab (Holmes 374)
2 – 3 PM

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In collaboration with the CAMD Media Studios Organization (MSO).

Join the Northeastern College of Arts, Media and Design Media Studios Organization for a tour of the Immersive Media Lab, the Game Design Lab and the Makerspaces.

Sonification in Ableton Live with Manifest Audio
Online via Zoom
3 – 4:30 PM

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In collaboration with Noah Pred and Manifest Audio.

Join us for an interactive introduction to Manifest Audio’s Sonification Tools, led by artist and lead developer Noah Pred. This session will explore the creative potential of these Max for Live devices designed to bring data-driven composition into modern music production workflows. Pred will demonstrate the fundamental capabilities and various sonification modes of these tools and show how they can be applied in various contexts, highlighting applications in music, multimedia, and beyond. Following the one-hour presentation, a 30-minute AMA/Q&A session will provide attendees with the opportunity to engage directly with Pred, delving into the technical and conceptual aspects of his approach to sonification, Max for Live, and generative instrument design.

Learn more about Manifest Audio’s Sonification Tools here.

The Data Sonification Awards Concert
Phillips Auditorium at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian
5:30 – 6:30 PM

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This concert showcases some of the awarded entries for the first edition of the Data Sonification Awards.

Click on each day to view more details:

Design Research Week 2025 Overview

Monday, March 17 – Health + Wellness

Tuesday, March 18 – Creativity + Play

Wednesday, March 19 – Community + Civic Futures

This is Thursday, March 20 – Data + AI

Friday, March 21 – Form + Materials

Saturday, March 22 – Graphic Voices of Latin America Exhibition

Sunday, March 23 – Interventions: Shift