Concept: user-contributed signage displayed according to frequency of usage at each path-decision-making point in the building

Rationale:
1. people generally don't use systemic overview maps to structure their paths. They remember turns and a sequence of points.
2. user-contributed information is most trustworthy from a user's perspective, especially when the contributions are combined over time.
3. user-contributed information is up-to-date, all the time.
4. this keeps all the benefits of tracking individuals' location without infringing on privacy because the data is anonymized in the process of extrapolation.
5. when finding their way through a building, people aren't so much concerned with finding a particular room as they are with finding the people and the events in it.
6. if people don't need directions, dynamic displays can adjust to be more ambient, while at the same time providing dynamic interesting information in a visually pleasing way.

This is a diagram for an electronic way-finding system designed for display screens on each floor of the new media lab. The concept tackles two major issues, the simple and effective representation of the spaces of the media lab as well as the tracking and layering of data over that space representing the activity occurring within the space.

Spatial representation

My process was to play with some of the graphical 2-D layouts to begin to understand the schema of the space and the context of the building, and then begin to layer on digital information to make fine-grain detail available about navigation and activities.

Right now this sketch relies on a main display, a web-based system that visitors can access, and individual dynamic door signage to highlight individual research -- the overall idea is to link visuals of the Media Lab research with particular spaces to make navigation easy and interesting for visitors, and to provide an integrated forum for building inhabitants to share information and collaborate across research groups.

Dear class,

This lecture tonight might be good inspiration for our E14 performance project. Also, the work of Bread and Puppet is amazing if you are not familiar with it. Please attend if you can.

Also, as a reminder here are the two out of class required lectures for this term:

Bill Viola 6:30pm Tuesday, March 10. Room 10-250

Paul Mijksenaar 5pm Monday, March 30. Weisner Room

thanks,

dave

Center for Advanced Visual Studies 265 Massachusetts Ave 3rd Fl N52-390 Cambridge MA 02139 617 253 4415 www.cavs.mit.edu

CAVS Fellow John Bell
Spectacle and the Street: Civic Rituals and Public Space
Tuesday, February 24, 6:30 PM

Floor plans linearized to reflect experience walking from elevator.
Heart of display systems outside of elevators and labs.
Explained through animation “unrolling” a slice through a 3D model.
Forms a coherant map of interior spaces — a backdrop for context sensitive info displays.
Draws from each lab’s blog posts and posted photos to provide an up to date but mediated snapshot of what’s new. (tag clouds, etc.)
Info is tailored to each screen’s audience: unknown viewers get indication of room number ranges, known residents get more info about places where they spend less time.
Subtle changes — helpful without being creepy.

I mainly thought about how different people could use a central digital map in E14's first floor lobby (typical place) in conjunction with the auxiliary waypoint maps located on each floor (elevators, lab entrances, intersections) -- my Andromeda Strain display.

I considered four different groups of people and how they would use the same wayfinding system.

1. Scheduled Groups
   already have itineraries, but may not know building or people
2. Delivery Guys
   already have name or room#, doesn't want to explore
3. Unscheduled Visitors
   want common destinations (admin, bathroom, lab)
   may know name or room #
4. Building Occupants
   1. faculty/students
      where is staff, equip., talk, avail. room? Who has special skills?
   2. staff
      who is in controlled space (fablab), where are faculty/students?
   3. facilities/security
      who is in the building? special room requests?

The proposed wayfinding system is more of a connection-revealing system. The major aim of the system is to use the screens placed throughout E14/E15 to make the users of all of the spaces within feel more connected to the various activities and ideas percolating throughout.

All four modes are relatively rough ideas at the moment, and it may be that all of these cannot be developed equally towards the final proposal. However, the modes all try to investigate spatial activity and collect useful information in an effort to rethink the potential of flexible spaces within a static architecture.

Screens guide individuals to places/things/people of interest.

It's somewhere between a QR code "building" and a custom app similar to Photosynth. But where it is in that spectrum I haven't really figured out yet.

Hi class,

There was a question about the "block diagram" for this week's assignment. It is common when proposing a project to provide, or be asked to provide, a block diagram. There is no strict meaning or format, but generally it consists of a series of labelled boxes with lines or arrows connecting them. For a hardware project, the block diagram can show the major components of the system and how they are connected. For a software project, a good block diagram makes clear how the software will be architected and how it is modularized. I find this to be a very useful part of the design process, because when you have difficulty making the diagram, if usually means that you didn't think enough about how it would actually work. And when you do have a good diagram, it makes it easy to farm out the production of a project, debug it and explain it to the client. It is also very useful when working with various trades, such as electricians and fabricators. (click title for more...)