With a critical eye toward the trends and advancements of the past twenty years, we began by projecting into the future. Aided by the writings of Katherine Hayles and Bruce Sterling, we began to image a context within which the dean’s office would be situated in the year 2029. As the effects of the digital age become more embedded in every aspect of life, information will become increasingly non-tangible.
Alongside our projections about the future of information, we analyzed the daily contacts and tasks of the dean. In analyzing the connections made by the dean throughout a typical week and typical day, it is apparent that the current time management structure is outdated and inefficient. As the school continues to expand and as there will be more demands on the future dean’s time, his daily tasks will need to be streamlined in order to let his presence be felt be each contact.
Our intervention: the Pulse Cloud Nexus [PCN]. The PCN would allow the dean’s presence to be dissolved into the fabric of the school while also returning to the academic environment some of the physicality of information.
In addition, the PCN would allow information that currently exists in a contained and stratified manner to become a resource that can self-generate and flow between environments.
The PCN structures different date types together in a single cohesive system. While providing access to information within the traditional library/archive resources, it also harvests the Pulse of the school. The Pulse encompasses several data types: student project information, research, and images; verbal communications, critiques, and lectures; experiential data, observations, and encounters; and involuntary data, internet usage, and biological stats.
The information structure of the PCN exists with adjustable filters and thresholds. Certain data types are archived and preserved, while other outdated information is discarded over time. The PCN surpasses static data structures because it intelligently restructures its information according to the inquiry.
The significance of the threshold as an important architectural moment is not lost in the year 2029. It is therefore the threshold that becomes an critical device- the Pulse Frame- to the PCN. The Pulse Frame enables the simultaneous collection and distribution of information between student and Pulse. Interacting with the Pulse Frame instantaneously harvests information to be contributed to the larger Pulse of the school and brings the user up to date with the happenings of the school.
The companion interface to the Pulse Frame is the Terminal. The Terminal enables in depth access to the Pulse Cloud Nexus. Through the Terminal students can interact with the information in the PCN. Conversely the dean can tap into the Terminal and adjust the information filters and thresholds as well as be informed about the learning happening school wide.