Friday, August 16, 2013

Eric Sauda

8-15-13

            Eric Suada does not run a particular type of research, but instead works in collaboration with multiple people at once in order to bring multiple sets of ideas to fruition simultaneously.  Eric has had his hands in many different disciplines regarding the interaction of architecture and computer science.  The first is Computing in Place, which deals with the way in which display screens have become a ubiquitous part of architecture today.   The second is Computer Vision, which addresses the manner in which we can use computing to analyze the movements of people through a space in an anthropological manner.  Lastly, the VAIRoma project addresses the way in which people can access data about Rome through visual analytics and come up with new methods in which to study Roman history.
            Computing in Place deals with the display screen and its place in architecture today.  These screens are a static part of buildings and in most cases are little more than an electronic billboard.  Computing in Place seeks to discover ways in which to make these display screens much more than that. Because of the relative newness of these screens, there has not been a particular uniting element to the way in which they are presented to the public.  Computing in Place seeks to utilize the knowledge of the architectural environment, knowledge of place from an anthropological perspective, and the knowledge of interaction with displays to create a manner in which to further the use and interactivity of these screens.  By studying these various elements, one can determine how people interact with a screen in a certain area and determine ways in which to increase the level of interactivity in order to give the user a more meaningful experience.
            Computer Vision deals with similar elements of the Computing in Place project in the sense that the project is attempting to analyze people in an anthropological sense in order to get a better idea of how to design a space around human encounters.  This project looks at the way people move through a space and interact with each other in order to determine specific patterns.  By gathering this data, we can determine ways in which to predict the way that people interact in a given space based on the way in which they congregate, and therefore enhance the experience of the person in the space through design.  This design may be through digital methods such as adding a display based off of the information gathered and the understanding of Computing in Place, or a physical change to the space itself through installation or renovation.  Further, this could help by providing precedent for future designs of similar spaces.
            Finally, VAIRoma looks at computing and architecture in a strictly informatic sense.  Visually representing the enormous amount of data available on the Roman Empire is a daunting task, but when complete it will provide ease of accessibility to architects and historians looking to study the information through its layers.  Being able to see the vast amount of information presented in this manner will allow for new connections to be made and serve as an insight to those studying in this field.

            All of these studies seek to merge different fields together in a way that is mutually beneficial to all involved. Evaluating the various projects would have to depend on the ease of use and effectiveness across the multiple disciplines.  This can only come through use and testing of these projects.

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