Video Mediated Communication for Domestic Environments

This paper presents different methods of integrating solutions for Video Mediated Communication (VMC) into the home environment considering both 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 using VMC in a home environment. The solution contains 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 are for example a “videoTORSO” a large vertically mounted flat screen for informal everyday communication and a “mediaSPACE” set-up consisting of a wall of screens permitting shared activities in both time and space. The comZONES are described both from an architectural and function form as well as technological hardware and software solutions.