DIGITAL GROUND

Digital Ground is an architect's response to the design challenge posedby pervasive computing. One century into the electronic age, people have becomeaccustomed to interacting indirectly, mediated through networks. But now as digitaltechnology becomes invisibly embedded in everyday things, even more activitiesbecome mediated, and networks extend rather than replace architecture. The youngfield of interaction design reflects not only how people deal with machineinterfaces but also how people deal with each other in situations whereinteractivity has become ambient. It shifts previously utilitarian digital designconcerns to a cultural level, adding notions of premise, appropriateness, andappreciation.Malcolm McCullough offers an account of the intersections ofarchitecture and interaction design, arguing that the ubiquitous technology does notobviate the human need for place. His concept of "digital ground" expresses analternative to anytime-anyplace sameness in computing; he shows that context notonly shapes usability but ideally becomes the subject matter of interaction designand that "environmental knowing" is a process that technology may serve and noterode.Drawing on arguments from architecture, psychology, software engineering, andgeography, writing for practicing interaction designers, pervasive computingresearchers, architects, and the general reader on digital culture, McCullough givesus a theory of place for interaction design. Part I, "Expectations," explores ourtechnological predispositions -- many of which ("situated interactions") arise fromour embodiment in architectural settings. Part II, "Technologies," discusseshardware, software, and applications, including embedded technology ("bashing thedesktop"), and building technology genres around life situations. Part III, "Practices," argues for design as a liberal art, seeing interactivity as a cultural-- not only technological -- challenge and a practical notion of place as essential.Part IV, "Epilogue," acknowledges the epochal changes occurring today, and arguesfor the role of "digital ground" in the necessary adaptation.