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1211Essays
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Essays on Rethinking ARCHITECTURAL TECHNOLOGY
Report 2
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Report 2
Maria Lorena Lehman
www.sensingarchitecture.com
2008-2014 Maria Lorena Lehman | SensingArchitecture.com | A division of MLL Design Lab, LLC
COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
Copyright 2008-2014 by Maria Lorena Lehman. All rights reserved, including
the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. No parts of this book
may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the copyright
owner, Maria Lorena Lehman. The author and publisher have used their best
efforts in preparing this book and the instructions contained herein. However,
the author and the publisher make no warranties of any kind, express or
implied, with the regard of the information contained in this book, and
specially disclaim, without limitation, any implied warranties of merchantability
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NOTICE OF LIABILITY
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TRADEMARKS
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In fact, the following video will give you a great overview of just how
touching technologies are emerging. As you watch the video, be sure to
think of how such innovations can help your architectural designs.
Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4tYpXVTjxA
By distinguishing greater detail in touch, a larger touch vocabulary and
accurate language emerges. As an architect, you can use this language to
devise architecture that responds to its occupants in more customized ways.
Thus, by creating opportunity for greater variation in the way occupants use
their buildings a building will have more in-between states. This, of course,
allows for greater personalization.
So, as you design your architecture, think of the different ways in which
your occupant touches your building to accomplish or meet a need. Then
think of how your architecture can respond in more personalized ways to
your occupants touch. Really, your architecture is constantly interacting and
engaging occupants and with new advancements in sensing technologies,
you can begin to have your building read occupant wants in much greater
detail.
Hence, we are left with an architecture of nuance where building
features can sense occupant needs from much more subtle gestural cues. As
technologies advance to make more of this possible, be sure to capitalize on
such advancements, to help make your architecture more responsive and more
personalized.
1 Nosowitz, Dan. Video: Touch-Sensitive Doorknobs Could Lock or Unlock
with the Curl of a Finger. Popsci.com. May, 7, 2012.
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Lately, many technologies are surfacing that help
with the tracking of a persons physiological signals
for health. Such a technology is sleep tracking
technology which monitors heart rate, movement,
and breathing. So, when a person lies in bed
sleeping, data is being collected about the quality of
that persons sleep.1
jurvetson | Flickr
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Have you ever wondered what it would be like to control your house or other
environment with your mind? Well, advances in brain computer interfaces
are beginning to make much of this a reality. You see, certain brain computer
interfaces can feed off of the electroencephalograph (EEG) signals from your
brain, to then translate them into commands that are sent throughout a given
building.1
If you look for them, you will see that brain computer interfaces are beginning
to surface take for instance the emotiv epoc headset which uses similar
technology to what I described above, where this neural headset feeds off of
the EEG signals from the brain.
But what does this mean for architecture?
For starters, the notion of control within environments will be going through
a shift. As such brain computers as the emotiv epoc headset continue to
be refined in their development, it may be possible to assert environmental
decisions with less physical action and more mental reliance. This does seem to
be great news for those who are physically impaired, as they could use such an
epoc neuroheadset to engage with their environment more seamlessly.
Since the epic headset can allow its user to do things like arrange Flickr
photographs according to emotion, just imagine what might be possible when
incorporating transient environmental qualities into the mix.
What if when wearing such an epoc headset, you could change your
environment with your mind by using your emotions. How would your house
respond to you when you are feeling happy? And what might it do if you
were to feel sad? Would the house then try to cheer you up with its happier
lighting, sounds, or aromas?
Brain computer interfaces are certainly changing the face of interaction
by allowing otherwise secondary aspects, like emotions, to surface more
transparently into the decision-making realm. Really, emotions have always
been a part of decision-making in human life, but now with neuroheadsets
we will be able to see the real cause-and-effect relationship between emotion,
decision-making and consequence. all three of which could contribute to
better design and usability for occupants within their environments.
1 Rowe-Graham, Duncan. Control Your Home With Thought Alone. New
Scientist. July 5, 2011.
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Brain EEG
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As you design your buildings using your own process, just imagine how you
might like to test certain aspects experientially, going beyond the visual. By
finding and developing a testing ground where you can fuse the different
senses together into a virtual experience of a space, you will likely make better
design decisions and will also be able to communicate your design better to
future occupants.
And dont think that you need CAVE-CAD to do all of your testing for
occupant experience. For example, you can set up virtual aural and visual
simulations using your computer along with a projection screen and speakers.
The trick is to devise a plan to study your occupants reactions: whether
physiological, intellectual, emotional, behavioral, and/or spiritual.
For optimal results, keep track of what research materials and tools are
becoming available to you as an architectural designer. Try to improve your
designs for your occupants by better understanding not only your designs
before they are built, but also by better understanding your occupants
reactions to those design ideas. In following along this path, you will stand in
prime position to boost your design process to yield higher quality design with
less error.
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they have their own computer glaring right back at them in the darkness.
Thus, better classroom lighting interiors can help to boost classroom learning
and perhaps even participation.
As you can see from the following examples, lighting interiors are important
factors that contribute to how your space gets used, which results in not only
how your building is perceived, but also in how well those that use it are able
to do just that. Improper lighting can hinder so many aspects of what makes
space functional. So as you design your next space, make sure you consider
the nuances involved when it comes to good lighting.
What works for one space within your building may not work for another
space within the same building. Much depends on the activity that goes on
within a particular area at a certain time. Also, do not think about lighting
interiors in terms of just trying to prevent lighting mistakes. You should also
think of lighting as another design tool which can help you leverage your
buildings effectiveness.
For example, consider how natural daylight spectrums filter into your interior
spaces as your occupants need a certain amount of exposure per day since
it affects their circadian rhythm. And of course, the circadian rhythm can
be linked to sleep and wake cycles and can ultimately impact overall health.
Another example of how lighting affects functionality.
So, I urge you to consider how your lighting interiors are impacting your
occupants. How might you make them better? And how might you use them
to leverage what your design already does best?
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As current buildings make their way toward
HVAC
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Thus, bridging the gap between sensors and their central communication
channels within a building by making more systems wireless will allow for
increased opportunity by which designers can embed their sensors strategically
to obtain necessary cues that might make an adaptive building work closer to
its optimal potential. And, as with most wireless technologies, there will come
a certain amount of added freedom for both the architect and their building
occupants if designed well.
1 Dillow, Clay. (2010) Sensor Networks in Buildings Could Use AC Ducts as
Huge, Building-Wide Antennas, Popular Science.
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New interactive tools are
surfacing to help architects
do their job better. One
such tool is a multi touch
3-D architectural application
which can be used as both an
interactive table device and a
larger scale screen projection.
While I can see such devices
being helpful to architects for
brainstorming, project reviews,
coordination meetings, and
client presentations, we really
should ask is this just
another cool device? Or,
does it really help architects
like you to do your job better?
Before we go on to talk
further about the application
technology, I think it best
to show you a glimpse of
what such multi-touch devices
can do:
campuspartycolombia | Flickr
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAanod1F6bI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVJpDlhORxw
As you can see, 3-D visualizations are developing past solely working with still
renderings or even scripted and locked in place animations which today
mostly run as replays of camera movements that serve to walk someone
through a space along a predesignated path. But what makes these new multi
touch virtual reality environments even more helpful is that they give architects
the ability to interact with their construction documents in new ways, that are
a bit more interactive and intuitive as they are tools that can be used to answer
possible questions that may arise or to spot potential problems that may need
to be solved in real time during meetings or client presentations.
By making construction documents link to more comprehensive building
models, they become a bit more of an immersive experience that not only
helps architects see their designs better, but also helps them to explain
them better as other members of their design team, consulting team and
client teams seek to more fully understand the implications of certain design
decisionsthus, preventing future problems that may arise.
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