Applying Spatial Computing to Everyday Interactive Designs

In this position paper, we address the applicability of spatial computing in the field of interactive architecture. The process of designing large-scale interactive systems is cumbersome, due in fact to single design cycles (transforming ideas into prototypes) taking a period of time usually measured in months, most of it dedicated to writing the software controlling the system. As most interactive architecture projects pass through several design cycles interleaved with user studies, speeding up the generation of the needed software becomes of crucial importance. The global-to-local programming approach is in fact a perfect tool for this task. Describing complex behaviors with simple rules is rarely seen in the existing installations, the large majority employing a central computer for the control of the system. Building up on our previous experience in this area, we created HiveKit, a proof of concept allowing bridging between the two fields, giving non-specialists easy access to distributed algorithms. HiveKit is a software package which allows designers to specify the desired behavior and automatically generate and deploy the needed code on networks of embedded devices. We introduce several projects where HiveKit is employed and create an argument, based on user studies, favoring the need for large-scale adoption of such tools

Producing true-color rainbows with patterned multi-layer liquid-crystal polarization gratings

Instrumentatio

Modulating territories, penetrating boundaries

HyperbodyArchitectur

Between Academia and Civil Society: The Origins of Latin American Studies in the Netherlands

Dutch Latin American studies as a field of academic teaching and research emerged in the late 1960s and became consolidated in the 1970s and 1980s. It began as a purely academic endeavor, but in a changing Dutch and global society in the 1970s it rapidly became connected to and influenced by social and political processes in Latin America. The strong Christian and social-democratic traditions in the Netherlands allowed for strong links between academic researchers and civil society organizations. This resulted in the productive coexistence of academic and more political objectives and activities and allowed Dutch Latin American studies to grow into a dynamic field. A review of this experience calls attention to the importance of local conditions for understanding the consequences of the Cold War for academic research