Introducing interactivearchitecture.org

Interactive Architecture … is about the potential for digital systems to make decisions about our living environment and then influence that environment.

I need to spend a bit more time on this website but I’m a bit scared I might never leave

Check out the resources page for how to make ‘anything unexpected become interactive’.

Thanks to Haunted Geographies for the signpost.

I had to write a statement outlining my academic interests and why I want to do the course. Thought I’d share it with you.

I’m fascinated by the way our lives are changing and adapting to a ubiquitous web; we’ll soon see a time when almost all devices will necessarily be web enabled. Interfaces are being increasingly judged on usability and interoperability yet the way we interact with content is becoming more complex. How should interface design evolve and improve whilst supporting significantly more intricate methods of content production, syndication and participative social systems?

This shift towards a ubiquitous web will also have dramatic consequences for the workplace as work and home life merges. We’ve started to see a change take place already with web applications such as the Google suite (docs, mail, calendar etc). Skip forward a few years and people will no longer expect to use a different – often more complex – application for work uses and companies will no longer expect to finance training courses for basic software. Employers will see good interface design as being integral to a productive workforce.

In relation to my work of recent years in the gov/non-profit sector, I’m interested in notions of authority and expertise online. The newest generation of web-users (who are ‘digital natives’) are source agnostic and are likely to trust information from peers more than from figures of authority. What does this mean for cultural institutions, education systems and government departments who are in the business of imparting knowledge?

As content is increasingly syndicated, how do people interpret and engage with expert content when it may be sitting alongside content produced by amateurs? The role that interaction design plays in this is unclear and something I’m interested in exploring.

A third area of interest for me is with the human to human interaction facilitated by social media applications. There is great potential for collaborative working and forming genuine relationships through websites such as Twitter or Seesmic. I’m interested in exploring the impact that the ubiquitous, social web will have on human relationships, communities and collaboration.

We Think explores how the web is changing our world, creating a culture in which more people than ever can participate, share and collaborate, ideas and information.

The talk was entitled ‘We think: will the web be good for us?’ (here it is on Upcoming) and it focussed on how creative expression is changing in light of social media, open-source, creative commons etc.

It was an extremely interesting evening and it complemented the recent Clay Shirky talk beautifully.

Here are the (edited) scribbles from my notebook:

Innovation
Innovation happens in groups – most innovation is the result of a far more collaborative process than it may at first appear. The technology behind the iPod was developed around a century ago (Me: eh?).

ilovebees
ilovebees.com was used as an example of group innovation. It’s too complicated to explain in detail here but please consult wikipedia for the full low down.

The gist is that a website was created as a viral marketing tool promoting the Halo 2 video game.

The website contained GPS co-ordinates but no explanation as to why or what. People visiting the website worked out that there were a series of payphones at the GPS co-ordinates. What began was a treasure hunt involving these payphones and the web. Eventually payphones located all around the world were involved in the game. People were given messages down the phone line and they had to communicate them to the other people playing the game. Sometimes in only a few seconds messages had to be circulated round the globe.

What’s remarkable about this example – and the reason it was mentioned – is because of the complexity of the organisation of the group. There was no leader, nobody told people they had to figure out the GPS co-ordinates even, it just happened.

Craftsmanship
The web may represent a mass return to ancient ways of working. The notion of work as creative expression is actually a pretty archaic approach as a general approach in the work place.

If you consider Linux coders for example, they are a bit like bee keepers or iron mongers – these are specialist crafts that require specialist skills but also these people LOVE what they do; their jobs are their craft, their vocation.

Me: My work has always been my vocation so it’s hard for me to see how this is something new

Collaboration and creativity
Notions of artistic creativity are brought into question when creation is collaborative. Some things cannot be created collaboratively. Imagine open source poetry – ‘it would be awful’.

Me: Actually, open source poetry could be really interesting. Hmmm [hear those cogs begin to whir]

Is this kind of collaborative creativity a predominantly first-world thing? It’s certainly possible that the most radical experiments involving collaborative tools (via mobile phone of course) could take place in the developing world (this is one example of that, are there any others?).

Don’t make me think
The web doesn’t appear to be a place for people to think together because we tend to join together with like-minded people. I wonder what we can do about that?

Content free for all or lock down?
The question we are going to face on every project from now on is should this be opened up (open source)? Or should it be locked down?

The corporation approach is to keep their work locked down, unavailable to the masses. But ultimately this approach probably won’t succeed. Brian Eno agrees.

I’m not there but I’m trying to keep abreast with what’s going on. Fortunately, this is a lot easier to do than ever before. Twitter and Seesmic are updating me with observations from people who’s opinions I respect and my rss reader is busy gathering feeds. There are also a number of tools I can use to ‘manually’ find content – digg, del.icio.us, hashtags etc.

But sifting through the gossip, chatter, informed opinion, official texts, party videos etc etc to identify key themes, opinions and zeitgeist is a daunting task.

Established publishing channels such as Wired seem to be doing a good job of recording key moments and general observations. But I’m not totally certain their reporting is accurate. What if they are completely failing to notice the Twitter buzz around a new application?

What I’m faced with is my perception of trust and authority in the recording of this event. I need to employ a number of methods to build a complete picture of the conference as there isn’t one source to do that for me. I trust that I’ll be presented with well informed, intelligent, crafted commentary from the Wired blog, and I also trust my Twitter and Seesmic friends to reflect zeitgeist and offer their expert opinion.

What I need is a website where I can get a roundup of what the Twitterverse is buzzing about, what’s being discussed on Seesmic, what’s being blogged, rated, bookmarked and so on.

I’d still like to read ‘professional’ editorial and interpretation but this and the user generate content would complement each other in order to present a holistic vision of – in this case – SXSW.

I wonder if this is the approach established news publishers will need to move towards in order to survive changing perceptions of authority and the inevitable mainstream establishment of user generated content?

What do people think? Does anything like this already exist?

We can spend up to half our working day going through our inbox, leaving us tired, frustrated and unproductive.

A recent study found one-third of office workers suffer from e-mail stress.

E-mail is ruining my life! (bbc.co.uk)

The article refers to Deloitte’s short-lived ‘no-internal-email-Wednesday’ which it reckons has made staff think more carefully about the email they send and whether there is a more appropriate communication method such as picking up the phone or talking face-to-face.

I agree, we should be more considered in our communications but our places of work on the whole haven’t even begun to embrace tools like IM, RSS, collaborative working, online project management, social networks etc etc.

My personal email traffic (both in- and out-bound) has significantly decreased since engaging with some of these tools. I refuse to subscribe to email lists – choosing RSS instead, and I use IM (if I can) to have quick conversations with friends. I use Google Groups to manage extra-curricular projects, Twitter keeps me in touch with friends and acquaintances and I use Facebook to organise my social life.

If only I could (or, more appropriately, was allowed to…) work more like this in my 9-5!

Antony Mayfield shared some thoughts on the similarities between what took place during the print revolution and what is currently happening in the social media ‘revolution’.

Some very brief notes:

Networks
The introduction of the printing press opened up networks that allowed new knowledge, ideas and creativity from new kinds of authors to emerge. People were no longer restricted to receiving knowledge from the authorities (the church, academia etc), they could publish their own. Academic debates were taking place in coffee houses and people were publishing their conclusions. But the printing press was an agent for rubbish as well as excellence.

Fame & control
The concept of fame changed as people became well-known for their craft. The authorities (the church mainly) were wary of this new medium and discouraged the masses from partaking (although in the case of the church, they were also making a heap of money from it).

Accuracy
The print revolution created the new role of sub-editor. Up until then mistakes were copied and added to by copywriters who literally copied out texts by hand. The printing press standardised texts and accuracy improved.

Retrospective
The conclusion was that for us to be able to fully understand the significance of this social media revolution you have to imagine looking back on it in 500 years time. We attempted that in a small group discussion and didn’t manage to reach any conclusions!

Mega-cities & localised networks
It was mentioned though that the future is defined by mega-cities. National identity will be superceded by city identity. Personally I think whilst social networks enable us to connect with people across the globe, human beings will still crave physical contact and localised – and specialist – networks will play an important role.

Americans turn to online videos

Online video sharing sites are reaping the benefits of the ongoing writers’ strike in the US.

According to net measurement firm Nielsen Online, some online video sites have doubled their audience since the strike began at the end of October.

bbc.co.uk

I love it when the outcome of something fairly mundane is a little shove towards the future.