COURSES / PERSONABLE MACHINES REV 01 2026

Personable Machines.

What if a lamp were alive? In this hands-on workshop, participants will breathe personality into an ordinary lamp using nothing more than its light bulb. Working in small groups, you'll decide how your lamp behaves — is it shy? needy? distracted? — then prototype its personality using a constrained toolkit of interactions.

InstructorMadeline Gannon
SponsorSteve Jobs Archive
LocationEames Institute
Duration1 HR
ParticipantsLive Cohort
FIG 0.1 Three Lights 3 BEHAVIORS
HAL 9000
0.60
BRIGHTNESS
KITT
0.50
POSITION
E.T.
0.30
BRIGHTNESS
Game Plan 60 MIN
Intro
Overview & Demo
Brainstorm
Live Coding
Group Share
Wrap Up
5 min
15 min
15 min
20 min
20 min
5 min

Topics covered.

Animacy Personality design Behavior prototyping Constraints Lamp as medium Group collaboration Live coding Eames philosophy