Topics of the project

Hello to everybody!


In the firsts posts we will give a short abstract on what we will do in this project, how long it will take and which persons and institutions are involved. First of all, let's gob into the topics:


Information and Communication Technology (ICT) have arrived in privately inhabited spaces. Terms coined in recent decades like “ubiquitous computing”, “pervasive computing” or “ambient intelligence” give evidence that ICT is not confined anymore to rectangular devices found at specific workplaces. ICT starts transforming private homes in a way that technical innovations like heating or electricity have changed them before albeit at greater pace and with more far reaching implications.
How can private living environments integrate novel ICT in ways that is appropriate and advantageous for its inhabitants? Just looking at ergonomics (e.g. placing lights in a way that there are no reflections on computer screens), just looking at an increase of computing power in various appliances (e.g. providing a television set with Internet browsing capabilities), just looking at local usage of technology (e.g. turning a fridge in a multimedia center by integrating a display) is too near-sighted when the personal needs of the inhabitants are to be taken into account, their way of life, their way to communicate, to work, or to relax at home. Taking a holistic perspective and looking at changes of private living environments in the past, lessons learned how technological changes are adapted in home décor in different cultures will help shape suitable living environments while keeping up with the speed of technological advancement.
In the future, designing and furnishing the interior of a private home will also mean furnishing it with ICT infrastructure and designing the interface between human inhabitants and technological systems present. Human-Computer Interaction takes place in the context of the surrounding space. A fundamental new concept is that this sp ce may also be virtual. Methodologies like Mixed Reality allow today for a seamless augmentation of the real world spaces. 3D visualization is able to render abstract data in more comprehensible visual representations. As such, they provide new design opportunities for man-machine interfaces in private homes. Many other novel developments increase the design space for man-machine interfaces in private homes. Mobile devices exist that are flexible and can be carried around – people do not need a desk and an office chair but can lie down on a couch and interact with an iPad. Novel input and output devices are available such as enhanced remote controls with gyroscopic sensors (e.g. the Wiimote), webcams and z-Cams such as Microsoft’s Natal that allow for contactless tracking of user’s actions, large sets of displays. This hardware infrastructure becomes not only more mature, more sophisticated, more usable but also more affordable.


This exchange project is about exploring the design space in man – machine interfaces and ways to embed them into private living spaces. Consequently, ideas how ICT will shape the interior of private homes in the future will be described and illustrated. Not only the future, but also past and present will be taken into account in order to highlight trends and lessons learned from history. One idea is, for instance, to conceive an i-Land within the private home, a dedicated space for computer-mediated communication and collaboration (like the kitchen is a dedicated space for cooking). The i-Land serves as semi-public space where inhabitants will be tracked, where specific input and output devices for communication are available, where virtual spaces can be realized and explored. Another idea is to conceive ways how ICT can foster
ambient assisted living, i.e. supporting elderly people in staying in their familiar surroundings. In an aging society, such issues have become very important and have been in the focus of several research efforts until today. But not only mobility and autonomy for the elderly can be addressed: health, balanced diets and entertainment are examples of possible application areas.
For this project there are three basic tasks. First, to conceive new ideas for future living environments that use innovative ICT. Second,  putting those ideas into perspective by looking at the past and the present situation in different cultures. Third, illustrating the results of tasks 1 and 2 by creating a video. Therefore, demonstrators or showcases might be built or software prototypes might be developed. The video can comprise live recordings of those demonstrators, or 3D visualizations of the ideas and findings (e.g. using computer animation), or a mixture of both.