Immaterial Spaces

I came across an interesting experiment by Timo Arnall and Einar Sneve Martinussen from AHO and Jack Schulze from BERG, in which they mapped the space created by waves emitted from RFID chips. By creating a rig that would trigger an LED each time it entered the RFID field, and capturing these moments on time-lapse photographs, the team was able to create 2-D images of the field. Then, by sequencing the 2-D images in a series of slice, created a 3-dimensional representation of the field. Video here.

 The fields being given off by many different technologies, from microwave ovens to CTA cards, to Wi-Fi hubs and radio stations, can each be spatially mapped to understand their limitations. Mapping an "immaterial space" can have enormous potential for all types of industries. Radio and telecom industries could have accurate maps displaying service areas and signal strength. Verizon could finally get rid of their one-man signal verifier in favor of a legion of receptors atop their vehicles.

Perhaps more intriguing is its application to the built environment. Libraries, cafes, and homes are formed to the boundaries of a Wi-Fi hub. Walls are built to move in sync with signal fluctuations. Groundbreaking ceremonies now include the first powering-on of the hubs. Technology has officially replaced masonry as the new cornerstones of our buildings, its signal our scaffolding. Transcribe the technology to map audible environments and you can determine the volume of space in which the sustained decibel level is above 65. This would be of great interest to residential developers, hospitals and schools, or anyone else that doesn't want to live behind a concrete barrier near a highway or airport.

The technology will have officially permeated our market when it becomes an iPhone app. People hold out their phones like divining rods in search of strong signals. Hi-tech games of hide-and-go-seek with your friends running about the city. A second wave of geocachers search for small beacons hidden in mundane locations. Indeed these experiments have opened up more possibilities than just a graphic for the technology.

What if the technology is attached to brain wave sensors, sold in handy packages over the counter. Instantly your emotions are given a definition and a space; people can measure how sad you are in cubic feet, or literally step inside your "happy place", or know just how far away to stand when you're angry. If an architecture can be made to respond to these readings (possibly with inflatable materials), we could create rooms that are always just the right size-always intimate without being confining. Or in prisons, where the devices are programmed inversely, so the angrier and more dangerous you are, the smaller your cell.