Conversational Space

My first blog post this week, Research Adjacencies looked at a method of sorting people with regards to using their tablet computers and research data but a question I want to then ask is how can this mediate the landscape around them? Do we want to have a space that can sense tension in our voice and then adjust the space accordingly or is this something we do manually?

A simple example of this can be seen in the computer game, The Sims where characters emotions and feelings are highlighted above their head with a simple symbol. Can this then be translated into spatial terms? If someone is having a heated debate then can the atmosphere change around them?This then brings rise to another question, can the architecture around us encourage conversations that are social and not just individual?

Two projects that I have found that seem to address this are:

1. ‘Bubbels’ by Michael Fox. This is a more abstract art installation however, the bubbles have the potential to change the space from an open space to allow lots of people to associate together or a series of smaller spaces.

2. ‘Hug’ by a group of students at the g-five imbedded interaction workshop. This project examines how busy spaces can be translated into mor private space by the architecture moving around them.

Also, can architecture represent certain atmospheres generated by the meeting of two people?