Gestural Design

In designing an application which can cater for both the design and construction of automated architectural solutions, a significant factor which can aid in the design process is the use of a gestural interface which goes beyond the multi-touch capabilities of mobile devices. In the quest for intuitive human-computer interaction, pervasive computing in the form of smart phones can allow for experimentation with new interaction methods, which can prove useful for architectural design.  Nintendo's Wii and Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch have made gestural interfaces popular, however with the release of Xbox kinect, the use of this form of pervasive computing provides multiple advantages for a more intuitive design methodology.

Although in this project I probably wont go into the genius that is Kinect, I will however be incorporating some of the basic principles of this technology in the design stages of the building project. Pervasive computing through the use of mobile devices allows for real-time scanning and sketch design of buildings on-site, with combined capabilities of gestural  interactivity. This means that massing and sketch designs can be explored on site using the mobile device as a controller for drawing.

Possible technologies that mobile devices provide include a 6-axis gyroscope, a motion sensor more accurate than the accelerometer, which provides information of gravity. This combined with the use of the accelerometer and GPRS could easily set up the foundations for gestural design capabilities.