IxDA Pittsburgh is pleased to present one of our long-time members, Jet Townsend. It would be easier to tell you what Jet hasn’t done than to list what he has done. He possesses a perfect blend of artistic and technical talents—both physical and digital—making him the quintessential maker. Please join us for another virtual event.

About the Talk

The ADA and building codes are a response to physical accessibility, but they are only for the future. How many new buildings are built in Pittsburgh each year? There are national and international guidelines for ICT accessibility similar to ADA; how are they enforced or mandated in consumer products? Any parent can tell you how you learn to do things with just one hand. What if that is the rest of your life, that you can only use one hand? Do you design for parents and misfits by default? Can we go back in time and fix not-universal design?

About Jet

Jet Townsend:

• was a phone phreak in college

• hacked VR in the early 90s

• wrote software at NASA Ames

• worked at General Magic, Liquid Audio, and Datarover

• worked on security, privacy, and screens at TiVo

• earned the first Master of Tangible Interaction Design at Carnegie Mellon.

Jet now does industrial and interaction design, digital fabrication of retail products, and teaches physical interaction design and programming classes at CMU.