Video Mediated Communication for Domestic Environments - Architectural and Technological Design

This paper presents different solutions for the integration of Video Mediated Communication (VMC) into the home environment considering primarily architectural and technical aspects. The context is entitled comHOME, a concept dwelling of the future designed and built as a full-scale model in collaboration with a telecom operator. The principal problem investigated is the various aspects of private and public zones when using VMC in a home environment. The solution concerns the integration of different comZONES (communicative zones for VMC), where the resident can be seen and heard at different levels varying in time and space. The comZONES presented include, for example, a “videoTORSO” a large vertically mounted flat screen for informal everyday communication and a “mediaSPACE” a set-up consisting of a wall of screens permitting shared activities in both time and space. The comZONES are mainly described from an architectural (form and function) as well as technological (hardware and software) perspective.