Workshop Maze Circuit: AI-Assisted Prototyping for Physical-Digital Interaction

Description

Maze Circuit is a hands-on workshop where bodies, conductive materials, simple electronics, web-based interfaces, and AI-assisted coding come together to create playful physical-digital experiences. Participants step into a maze built on the floor: a conductive playground made with copper tape, aluminum, graphite, paper, and other accessible materials. As they move through the space, touch hands, connect skin to skin, or complete paths with their bodies, they discover how closing a simple circuit can control what happens on screen. But Maze Circuit is not only about circuits. It is also about designing the digital experience connected to them. Working in small groups of 4 to 5 people, participants will create a simple web-based interface, game, or interactive experience that responds to the physical maze. This could become a collaborative Pong game, a visual feedback system, a playful navigation interface, a collective challenge, or another interaction imagined by the group. Throughout the workshop, we will use AI-assisted prototyping, also known as vibe coding, as a creative method. AI tools will support brainstorming, interaction design, game mechanics, code generation, debugging, and rapid experimentation. The goal is not to become an expert programmer in one afternoon, but to understand how an interaction idea can become a working prototype. Inspiration The workshop is inspired by the logic of the Makey Makey board: a playful circuit that reacts when human bodies and conductive materials complete a connection. In Maze Circuit, this principle becomes both a game and a prototyping tool. Imagine a floor labyrinth made of copper tape, aluminum, graphite, or paper. As players navigate it, they sometimes need to touch hands, feet, or connect with other bodies in order to advance. Their connection closes the circuit, and the circuit becomes an input for a digital interface. A well-known example of this logic is the Banana Piano, where bananas become the keys of a musical instrument. Just like fruit can become a keyboard, Maze Circuit invites you to rethink how everyday conductive materials, spatial movement, and even the human body can become unexpected interfaces for play. This workshop expands that idea into a collective prototyping environment. Instead of only testing a pre-built interaction, participants will design their own physical-digital system: one part conductive maze, one part web interface, one part game, one part social experiment. Why You Must Do This Workshop Most conversations about AI in design still happen around text, chatbots, image generation, productivity, and automation. Maze Circuit brings AI into a more physical, playful, and social space. In this workshop, AI becomes part of the making process. You will use it to help imagine interactions, structure ideas, write simple code, test behaviours, and connect a physical input to a digital output. You should join if you want to explore: Maze Circuit is especially relevant for people from the UX, interaction, and design communities, as well as artists, educators, creative technologists, product thinkers, and anyone curious about playful interfaces, embodied interaction, and AI-assisted making. No previous coding or electronics experience is required. What You Will Learn Who It’s For No previous experience is required. Maze Circuit is designed for curious beginners as well as people with experience in UX, interaction design, product design, education, creative technology, art, performance, or coding. The workshop is especially suitable for: Participants will work in small groups of 4 to 5 people. Each group may combine different interests: some people may focus on the physical interface, others on the digital experience, others on game mechanics, performance, documentation, or interaction design. Practical Details FormatOne-day in-person workshop DateSaturday, August 29, 2026 Time13:00–18:00 CET LocationSchönauareal, WetzikonZurich area, Switzerland Capacity20 participants Group size4 to 5 people per group ParticipationFree, with a suggested donation of 59 CHF to help cover materials and workshop costs. What You Take With You By the end of the workshop, each group will have created a working physical-digital prototype: a conductive maze or interface connected to a simple web-based experience. You will leave with: More than a finished product, you take with you a method: how to combine bodies, materials, circuits, AI tools, and web interfaces to design new forms of interaction. About the Host Lina Lopes is an artist, creative technologist, and data scientist exploring the intersections of performance, interactive spaces, machine learning, physical interfaces, and experimental education. With over a decade of experience across art, design, technology, and innovation, she has presented her work internationally in museums, universities, festivals, and learning spaces. Her practice includes collaborations and experiences with institutions such as the MIT Media Lab, Arte1 TV, FabLabs, and creative technology communities. She creates collaborative workshops where technology becomes a tool for imagination, play, prototyping, and radical experimentation.✨ Join us to turn touch into interaction, and transform the room into a living circuit.