Current research projects

• Modern Cultural Heritage Processes and Remote Presence 2009-2011
  
  The Mediated Museum research group has been awarded funding from the Swedish National Heritage Board for a three-year project addressing modern cultural heritage processes and remote presence (Moderna Kulturarvs- processer och Medierad Tillgänglighet). The project explores cultural heritage processes over time, with an emphasis on the 20th century, through an investigation of the remains and traces of the renowned art and industry fair that took place in Stockholm in 1897. A key issue, furthermore, is to explore how public participation and remote presence may affect such processes. As part of the project, a series of participatory events are planned which will be analysed and evaluated. Scheduled activities for 2010 include an archaeological excavation, an exhibition and a building prototype for a Mediated Museum. The latter will provide mediated extensions to existing museum buildings, enabling museum visitors to interact with each other across time and space. Visitors to these mediated spaces will remotely visit various cultural heritage sites. Visitors individual experiences of remote presence and mediated interaction will be documented as part of the project. A participatory design process will involve a selected user group in the design work for the Mediated Museum prototype.
  
  For more information, contact Katty H Wahlgren, Research leader, Museum of National Antiquities of Sweden.
  
  
  (Top left to right) The excavation involved searching for remains and traces of the renowned art and industry fair that took place on Djurgården, Stockholm in 1897; One point of attraction at the 1897 fair was a half-scale replica of the medieval city of Stockholm - Olde Stockholm - located on an artificial island (that still exists although no visible traces from 1897 remain) chosen as the site of the excavation; A grass-green carpet, a park bench and road sign, identical to the kind used on Djurgården were used in the exhibition in the entrance hall of the museum; Aiming to show that remote presence can be achieved at limited cost, the designs were based on commercially available audiovisual communication equipment of good quality, albeit not the most exclusive, and a beam-splitter design concept enabling eye contact which was previously developed and tested.
  
  
• Mediated Spaces 2008-2009
  
  This project contributes an architectural design perspective on mediated spaces and remote presence. An on-going prototyping process has resulted in numerous "mediated spaces, windows and walls" over the last ten years, i.e. design artefacts emerging from different contexts of use and design (Read more: Examples of mediated spaces, windows and walls). The outcome of such design processes is material and immaterial artefacts, constituted of both physical and virtual tools, demanding a resolution of contrary experiential and spatial concepts. Participants at each location experience a sense of presence negotiated through dialogic interaction. They also share material and immaterial spaces - from designs based on a juxtaposition of space(s). The study arises from the need to address "mediated spaces" and what "designing for presence" entails from an architectural perspective.
  
  The spatial dimensions of video-mediated environments have previously been observed, although mostly from outside architectural discourse and practice. Mediated spaces are often addressed within HCI, CSCW and interaction design, but more often with the aim of improving usability and the design of collaborative tools rather than informing spatial design (Jacucci 2004, Jacucci & Wagner 2005; Baecker et al. 2008, Ciolfi & Bannon 2005; Rossitto 2009; Ehn et al. 2007).
  
  The current project addresses the need for a revised set of conceptual tools for the design of mediated spaces. Our experience shows that the concept of presence is negotiated in a multidisciplinary interaction between users and technicians, who can be named designers, but who often lack adequate conceptual tools to handle the spatial qualities at hand. Presence research is currently dominated by cognitive science and communication technology, and there is potential for a transdisciplinary design-driven approach where media technology meets architectural design and where spatial and visual conceptual tools, derived from related visual practices may apply.
  
  The project is funded by VINNOVA (Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems) through the Centre for Sustainable Communications, KTH, Stockholm.
  
  For more information, contact research leader Charlie Gullström, Department of Architecture, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm.
  
  
  Skype freeware can transform an office into a continuous mediated space but does not enable mutual gaze. On the left photo, my colleague looks at me, as my image is displayed on his laptop. On the right, he is looking straight into the camera above his laptop, which is better for me but not natural for him: in dialogic interaction you want to look at the person you are addressing.
  
  Read more about mediated spaces and presence design
  
  

  References:
  Baecker, R., Harrison, S., Buxton, B., Poltrock, S. Churchill, E. 2008. Media Spaces: Past Visions, Current Realities, Future Promises. In Proceedings of CHI. Florence.
  
  Ciolfi, L. and Bannon, L. J. 2005, Space, Place and the Design of Technologically-enhanced physical environments. In Turner, P, Davenport, E. Spaces Spatiality and Technology. Dordrecht: Springer.
  
  Ehn, P., Binder, T., Eriksen, M. A., Jacucci, G., Kuutti, K., Linde, P., De Michelis, G., Niedanthal, S. Petterson, B. Rumpfhuber, A., Wagner, I. 2007. Opening the digital box for design work: Supporting performative interactions, using inspirational materials and configuring of place. In Lecture Notes in Computer Science 4500 LNCS, pp. 50-76.
  
  Jacucci, G., Wagner, I. 2005. Performative Uses of Space in Mixed Media Environments. In Turner, P, Davenport, E. (eds.). Spaces, Spatiality and Technology. Dordrecht: Springer.
  
  Jacucci, G. 2004. Interaction as performance. Cases of configuring physical interfaces in mixed media. Doctoral Dissertation: Oulu: University of Oulu.
  
  Rossitto, C. 2009. Managing Work at Several Places: Understanding Nomadic Practices in Student Groups. Doctoral Dissertation. Stockholm: Royal Institute of Technology.
  
  

• KTH R1 Experimental Performance Space 2007-
  
  The KTH R1 Experimental Performance Space is a project funded from 2007 by the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm, with support from Akademiska Hus.
  
  This project will establish a permanent experimental performance space in the discontinued reactor hall of the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm (KTH). This underground environment located 25 metres beneath the university campus represents Swedens entry to the "Nuclear Age" and provides a unique setting for performance activities (500 sqm). Such events may explore and make use of the reactor hall itself or use media technology to make activities, installations and performances virtually accessible through several media channels. This project has received initial funding from KTH and negotiations to ensure external funding from several project partners are currently under way.
  
  
  
  For more information see www.r1.kth.se or contact Leif Handberg, project leader, Department of Media Technology, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm.