The Center for Design and Technology at Shenkar named after Avraham and Michal Kadar is dedicated to research and activities in the field of interactive design. It involves all aspects of the dialog created between people and technology, as well as between people through technology. In the center, run by the creative duo Michal Rinott and Shachar Geiger, members of faculty and students develop new proposals for interactive environments and objects at the juncture of the various disciplines taught at Shenkar.

In order to sustain its recognition and relevance as a pioneering academic institution engaged in interaction research, the center offers multidisciplinary courses with cutting-edge and critical research, pertaining to technology, design and human experiences. Those are carried out with the college’s staff from various research, entrepreneurial and academic units, in conjunction with various cultural, social and industrial organizations.

Two Riders. Installation by Michal Rinott, Shachar Geiger and Giori Politi

The center operates in an expansive open layout creative space, offering students and researchers a variety of modern tools that allow rapid prototype building, including:

• Sensors and actuators, interfacing between the physical and digital worlds, for the creation of ‘smart’, connected objects and environments (in the spirit of the IoT)
• Micro-controllers used to formulate new behaviors in new products and environments
• Open source hardware and software tools that allow even those without a background in programing to learn quickly
• ‘Soft’ equipment for the creation of wearable computers and soft objects
• Telephones and communication components for rapid development of applications and testing new interpersonal, technology-mediated communication models
• Filming and editing tools used to create future scenarios on video

Part of the center's research activity involves the formulation of new methodologies for interdisciplinary activities, with an emphasis on techniques used for rapid creation of sketches and prototypes in an interactive process.