Introduction to Creative Technologies CTCH 110 Professor Rebecca Caines

Project Plan:

Archaug

Rodrigo da Silva Felix

Faculty of Fine Arts University of Regina March 13th, 2013

Technology and Architecture

The work of the professional of architecture as so many other old professions which has survived to the evolution of technology by the adaptation to such progress has changed its way to translate the conception and ideas from the mind of the architect to the final lines of the architectural design language. The profession which has started and even nowadays still being known as a work of an artist using mostly paper, pencil, a measuring tape and his own imagination to satisfy the needs of his clients, now is much more related to laptops, ultrasonic distance measurers and modeling software. The introduction of electronic devices and computer programs into the work of the architect indicates a step forward into a more productive environment of work and nowadays the use of programs such as AutoCAD, Revit, Google SketchUp, 3ds Max and so many other, in the conception process or in the project creation itself, is almost essential for the work of the architect who wants to be part of the architecture labor market. The main idea of such programs is to create a faster way to produce the final project by the replacement of the old working tools for 2D and 3D design software tools. Those tools came to substitute the manual drawn plans and physical models to printed projects and virtual 3D models, facilitating the professional work and saving a lot of time to the creation process itself. All the evolution and transformation in the way of presenting the final project to the client by the use of electronic tools what nowadays is a much more realistic experience when we start to think about all the three dimensional models, rendered pictures and virtual tour videos that can be made by the use of a simple free software however did not allow the actual owner of the building to directly imprint his own aesthetic value to the project. In the creative process of the architectural design, the interaction between professional and client is hampered by the complexity of language used by most of the design software, such interaction been limited to the professionals abstraction capacity to translate his clients desire into an aesthetical conception to the project. That kind of collaborative interaction represents a trial and error process where the project has to pass through a number of reviews until it is accepted for the client as an architectonic proposal that matches with his main idea for the building. But what if we could overcome that complexity of language barrier that keeps the clients hands away from the design process? What if the creative capacity and aesthetical desire of the client could be an actual step in the architecture design process and he could shape a basic geometric element as a cube into the first sketch of the project through the use of a device which uses the physical sites environmental information as a background for the conception?

C o m i n g S o o n!

A real time game that plays with the history and evolution of a neighborhood. A new level of interaction between the city and its residents. That is the main idea of Stephanie Rothenbergs Coming Soon! project that uses the augmented reality technology as another dimension in iPads and smart phones screens to explore the visible and invisible traces of urban renewal in the West Farms neighborhood of the Bronx. In the mixed-reality urban walking tour is possible, through the camera view finder of a mobile device, discover a series of animated, virtual billboards linking to both personal stories and factual data that pose questions around what remains seen and what gets left behind in the effort to revitalize of the area, creating this way a local narrative on current and future development. The Coming Soon! project was part of the public art exhibition Virtual/Monumental at the Bronx River Art Center (BRAC), in August of 2012. As in the above mentioned project, Stephanie Rothenbergs works try to investigate the mediation of the physical world through the digital interfaces of commodity culture questioning about our interpersonal relationship to technology and its broader socio-political implications. One of the mentioned artists in the

Interactive Online Media and Immersive Environments lecture and in the Intro to
Creative Technologies Online Class Forum Jonnys lecture Stephanie Rothenberg is an example of artist that uses technology to create environments where the reality presents a new way of virtual interaction through electronic devices, raising the world of entertainment to a new level of communication with society.

The Archaug

The idea of creating a virtual layer between people and the real world has been applied as a way to increase the level of interaction between audience and art, community and surrounding environment, learner and source of knowledge and represent a step into a new level of interactivity to the creative technologies. If to an orthodox beholder this new scenery in the entertainment industry can seem like an attempt to hold the consumer attention into the technological devices, to a visionary person the augmented reality can represent the rise of design creation to a level never achieved with the conventional existing tools. The use of virtual layers of interaction can provide an environment where the reality and specifically objects can be created, shaped and redesigned into the desire of the beholder. Inspired by the augmented reality artistic projects, the Archaug Architectural

Modeling Design is a hardware and software that brings the idea of real time interactive designing to architectural projects. Clients interaction and
participation in the process of design achieves a closer and productive level of relation where ones aesthetical intentions can be directly used in the creative design conception. The Archaugs device makes possible to easily obtain physical sites information topography, predominant light, wind direction etc. and apply such info into projects development, also amplifying the architects creative possibilities and making the aesthetical conception of the project much more accessible to clients participation through the use of the multi-touch screens in iPad and smartphones. The device combines augmented reality software with the Arduino open-source electronics prototyping platform to apply the multi-touch technology in modeling design. While the software makes possible to play and experiment different shapes and models in a real life background, Arduinos platform added with the specifically

sensors to read the environment information of deepness, luminosity, wind etc.,

relevant info in the architectural and environmental comfort conception raises the interaction between software and the ambient to the needed level. As a device designed to facilitate the interaction between project

conception and client, the use of Archaug is intuitive and simple. While in the
physical site where the construction of the building will take place, the client or the architect, provided with an iPad or smartphone and Archaugs hardware, will use the view finder and sensors of its device to read the environment information into the screen of his iPad. All the information obtained by Arduinos sensors in Archaugs device will be used to increase the level of interaction between the site and the design conception model which can be created based on a predefined basic shape cube,

orb, pyramid etc. or even on an image of an specifically object. The multi-touch screen of the iPad combined with Archaugs software will provide the needed tool to design the model in as many possible shapes as the imagination allows and the environmental information obtained athwart Archaugs hardware will guide the conception through the best solutions for the project best location of windows based on wind direction and sun light, for example. The three dimensional model created will be the first design conception of the project, providing a start point where the professional can develop the architectural project according his clients will. The model can be imported to the usual programs used by the architect where the professional will have the possibility to use its shapes to create the plans and design the layout, illumination, structural solution and develop the architectural project itself. The model can also have the professional treatment to be a closer to reality virtual maquette and give the idea of how the constructed building will looks like. Archaugs hardware was thought to be a portable device, to be carried to different sites and locations, providing more mobility to the professional of architecture. Important information about the site could be sent to the professional by internet, facilitating the work in different cities and even countries. By the use of Arduinos platform, is possible to reunite all the sensors and needed electronic equipment into a small device easy to work with and accessible to the nonprofessional community, leading the usual modeling software to the level of real time interactive design with Archaug Architectural Modeling Design.

Sources

Stephanie Rothenberg's website http://www.pan-o-matic.com/projects/coming-soon BRAC: Bronx River Art Center http://bronxriverart.org/events-archive.cfm?recordID=57 Arduino http://www.arduino.cc/