The Practical Futurist: The Harvard Of Interactive

At this point ITP might begin to sound like the sort of free-form touchy-feely do-your-own-thing institution that gave alternative education a bad name in the '70s and '80s. But it's clearly not: the classes are often rigorous, with names like "The Future of the Infrastructure" or "Creative Microcomputing" or "Information Architecture." (Although other classes sound like distinct departures: "The Poetics of Virtual Space," for example, or "Contagious Media.") And the competition for entry is intense, with about 230 students admitted from four times that number of applicants; tuition for most students is over $20,000 a year. The school requires an undergraduate degree and Burns prefers that students be out of school five years, but past that, much is determined on the basis on an application essay and the student's background. "We aim for diversity," says Burns; a recent class had students ranging from a pediatrician and a journalist to a lawyer, a filmmaker and a performance artist.

But what really distinguishes the work at ITP is the number of projects that remain in one's mind, even several years after a show. I still recall, for example, one student who created a video fireworks display on a plasma screen, meant to hang in a store window. Passersby on the sidewalk were instructed to dial a number on their cell phones and then by pressing buttons, they could control the fireworks show as they watched. Other classic pieces are still displayed in the entrance to the school's loft-like, plank-floored offices. One is "Wooden Mirror", a 6-foot-tall "mirror" made of 830 small squares of wood, each powered by a tiny motor. When you stand in front of the mirror a video camera picks up your image and tilts the corresponding squares of wood to create what appears to be your "reflection." Across from the Wooden Mirror is "Copper Urchin," a copper ball about the size of a basketball, extruding long drooping wires like some kind of metallic sea creature. Run your hands across the wires, and the somewhat-threatening ball suddenly creates lovely sounds.

Recruiters from companies like Microsoft and Intel, as well as ad agencies and media companies, are regular ITP visitors and Burns has alumni well-placed through the interactive industry; the program itself now has an international reputation. But for all her experience--or more likely, because of it--Burns is cautious about predicting the future. "I see technology beginning to disappear," she says, "but what continues to be important is how computers can help people. At ITP, we just have to redefine ourselves all the time."

© 2003