News

  • All News
  • Expert Appearances
  • News Releases
  • Lehman Stories
  • Lehman Weekly

Friday, July 18, 2025

Scrapyard Challenge Teaches Interface Design with Found Objects

two students looking a a video game on a large screen.

July 17, 2025

 

In Jonah Brucker-Cohen’s Scrapyard Challenge, nothing is garbage. “Anything can be turned into a digital interface,” said the associate professor of digital media and networked culture. With a goal to democratize technology, the workshops teach people basic interaction and interface design by hacking recycled materials, simple electronics, and objects bounds for the landfill.

More than just a fun introduction to programming and hardware hacking, this approach “develops participants’ critical thinking about objects and value,” he said.

Versions of Scrapyard Challenge have been held across the globe at festivals and conferences since 2003, beginning with workshops on novel ways to create electronic music. The focus has recently switched to devices that control video games.

He has also made the workshops part of his Lehman courses, such as Introduction to Media and Digital Culture. Last spring, students created arcade game controllers with found objects like turntables, aluminum foil, and plastic toys. One group of students built a version of Mario Kart played via toy cell phones.

The next iteration of Scrapyard Challenge will pop up at SIGGRAPH 2025, a computer graphics and interactive techniques conference in Vancouver from August 10-14.