Introduction.

Welcome to this temporary website on my graduation project, at the Hyperbody Reseach Group in the Faculty of Architecture of the Technical University of Delft in the Netherlands. The project for the time being, is called 'Archtctr2.0'. Here I will keep a log during the project. Feel free to browse and react.

Archtctr2.0 project summary.

• Everything is getting more and more connected nowadays. Online social networks like Myspace or Facebook, ubiquitous mobile communication, the Global Positionioning System (GPS), Geographic Information Systems (think of Google Earth) emerged. Gaming became more physical (Nintendo Wii, Nike+). 'Locative art' was born. Companies exploited new possibilities using coupled databases like Amazon. Practically all information is being digitized and made available globally. Physical things like people, buildings and cities were added to ‘hyperspace’ resulting in an explosive network linking the virtual world to the physical world.




• Archtctr2.0 is interdisciplinary; it combines information and communication technology, new media, game design and electronics. A technical and psychological challenge: Can a spatial interface help us making sense of the ever growing complexity around us? And if it can; how do we design these spaces?


• Archtctr2.0 resulted in a conceptual design spanning the earth. A virtual info-layer, like the ozone layer, with infinite thickness is imagined. In this layer everything is linked. Nodes representing people or places are settled on their current location. Nodes without a specific geographical location float to a balanced-out destination. The more connections a node has, the bigger it gets, and the higher its position above earth. This is 'Phyrtual space'; where the virtual meets the physical; where data and our tangible world mix.


• Archtctr2.0 allows exploring the aggregate of 'all' information, people and locations in life-size. The starting point is your personal node surrounded by semi-transparent, penetrable tunnels. You make a selection of your interests by means of an intuitive interface. Now the amount of tunnels increases or decreases and the space expands or shrinks. Entering a tunnel sets you on a journey, traveling at an adjustable speed. The self-organizing property of the network yields opportunities for stops and detours. You will discover new places, meet new people and learn.

Posts.

For people interested I uploaded the images of my final presentation.

If you didn’t visit the presentation though, the slides might be too meagre to understand. Please wait for the video to be posted soon!

View the slides on viewbook.

Picture of the original presentation set-up. Photo by Willem van der Made.

Using the WIImote to control the presentation.

Some of the visitors. Photo by Willem van der Made.

Thanks to everybody who supported me in any way!

This is my professor Kas Oosterhuis presenting the final marks to me and the public, remarking that “it is exceptional to present this project with so few words and images yet being totally convincing”.

Photos by Willem van der Made. Thanks!

Check out my final results (especially the infinity mark for Architecture ; ) …

I’m Thinking about participating in The Mobile City conference.

Hello everybody!

Friday January 18th it is going to happen: I am graduating. At 11.30 that day I will give my final presentation at the Faculty of Architecture of the TU Delft.

This presentation is held in a special building called iWeb located in front of the faculty. You are invited to attend this presentation, and the subsequent graduation.

At 21.00 you are invited again! This time to join the party to celebrate my graduation. The party is held in ‘Het Pakhuis‘; close to my former home in Delft (Oude Delft 119). The party lasts until it’s over… and wel’ll see where we end up…

I hope you are able to attend the presentation and or party.

See you!
REmko//

Main locations:

iWeb; Faculty of Architecture; Technical University of Delft.

Berlageweg 1
2628 CR Delft
The Netherlands
51°59′N, 4°22′E

Het Pakhuis.

Phoenixstraat 4c
2611 AL Delft
The Netherlands
52° 0N, 4°21′E

> Download the KMZ-file (Google Earth), including all locations mentioned.
> 9292ov.nl (for public transport)
> ns.nl (for trains)
> viamichelin.nl (if you’re travelling by car)

For the final presentation I want to show my tutors and guests what Archtctr2.0 could look like if you would have to build it physically. You’d have to consider this as a frozen state of the dynamic architecture around you while browsing …

Last photo by Lars. Thanks!

Link.

Johnny Lee recently became a very popular guy… His videos of hacked implementations of the WIImote (the Nintendo WII controller) are very well explained, very inspiring and simply awesome!

Here are some of his videos:

I use a similar process tracking the user on the pentagon-shaped floor of the iWeb. Moving your body and your head will move the virtual camera’s which will give a very rich 3d-experience.

The infrared-LED’s I was working with for the tracking weren’t bright and direction-insensitive enough… I’m trying to replace it with something shown here: a bright ir-beamer mounted next to the WIImote and a reflector on your head or clothing.

Because my WIImote can’t be mounted exactly above the floor, it is viewing the floor from an angle which distorts the coordinates of the person-tracking on the floor. I’m calibrating the view such that the coordinated that I get are not distorted by perspective anymore.
more johnny lee…

History.

07.01.11 : Revised study plan (v1.1). (PDF)
07.01.11 : Hans' reaction.
07.01.10 : First (v1.0) version of the study plan. (PDF)

Links.

• Bucky Earth; my History Thesis is finished! [20/11/2007]
• The images of the P3 presentation [9/11/2007]
• Sensory enhanced Bamboostic!; my Research & Design in Interactive Architecture is finished! [27/8/2007]
• BLOG backup (without images), images are here and sketches are here.
• Literature list on Amazon.com.