AP3
All topics

Physical context / learning through small device experiments

Hardware

Understand how sensors, constraints, and physical form change the product idea.

Why this matters

Hardware makes latency, power, environment, and physical affordance impossible to ignore. Even when the output remains software, that discipline can make a product more grounded.

Concepts to learn

  • Sensors
  • Power and latency
  • Bluetooth
  • Physical affordance
  • Prototype constraints

Apply It in Casset

Casset is the working environment for this skill—not the curriculum itself.

  • Explore one small physical listening or release artifact only when it strengthens identity, emotion, or participation.
  • Prototype the system boundary before designing the enclosure or collectible object.

Suggested project

Listening object

A minimal physical prototype that changes how a listener enters a Profile World.

Evidence of completion

These are completion conditions, not claimed achievements. Each stays planned until it links to a real artifact or verification.

  • implementationA working physical prototypeplanned
  • diagramDevice-to-product architectureplanned
  • observationA real-world use noteplanned

Open questions

  • What can a physical object express before it is tapped?
  • When does hardware deepen the relationship rather than add novelty?

Related notes

Books, talks, and useful things

  • tool
    Arduino or ESP32

    Keep the first loop small and observable.

Reflection journal

A physical constraint can become the product idea rather than an implementation tax.