Research Adjacencies

“An interactive architecture environment can also provide a unique sense of space heightened by the constantly changing information exchanges in small or large groups.”

The above is an interesting quote from Interactive Architecture by Michael Fox and Miles Kemp that has inspired my blog posts this week.

This post really stems from a piece of software that Martyn is developing with a software engineer and adapting it to a different situation. The tablet is a fast growing device and provides a platform for people to store their life on. What I am interested in exploring is how the tablet can represent (research wise) the person and then how can this orientate them with other people and shape the environment around them. What I am proposing is that if everyone in a research group stores and reads there current papers on their tablet then a piece of software could search through these looking for key words. From these key words a database can be compiled and used to link people researching the same/similar topic together. Also, if certain clashes were known in a research field then these people could meet up to debate.

An interesting question that stems from these associations is to do with adjacencies of people. Can we have an environment that re-arranges itself to link certain people together (like the Boeing example that I talked about a few weeks ago ) creating a space in constant flux? Will this lead to a more productive research environment?