An Intelligent Workspace

The Problem: To build workspaces that effectively support people in everyday work situations, one needs to focus on both the technology and the physical environment in which work takes place. Much progress has been made in recent years in developing technology: Research in intelligent spaces—those spaces in which technology has been embedded in support of people’s tasks—has focused on such issues as computing resource allocation, multi-modal interfaces, new sensor development, and applications that support workplace tasks. Progress also has been made in the design of physical spaces that support the wide variety of tasks that take place in office environments. Much of this work has focused on what people do in office environments and how the types and arrangements of physical elements—windows, walls, furniture—influence everyday tasks. It is now time to merge the two efforts.