As the world witnesses an unprecedented exodus from rural to urban areas, cities face a monumental challenge: how to accommodate a constantly growing population? This phenomenon, characterized by rapid population growth and increasing density, puts pressure on resources, infrastructure, and urban services. As significant problems demand even larger solutions, it becomes necessary, more than ever, to rethink the tools at our disposal. In this challenging context, the rise of emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), data analytics, and artificial intelligence (AI) presents itself as a light at the end of the tunnel. These technologies, initially conceived to simplify everyday tasks and facilitate communication, are potential instruments that enable an effective response to contemporary urban challenges.
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When Buildings React: An Interview with MIT Media Lab's Joseph Paradiso
Not so far in the future, smartphones and laptops will go the way of the beeper and fax machine, fading into obsolescence. Soon, according to MIT Media Lab's Joseph Paradiso, we will interface with the physical world via wearable technologies that continually exchange information with sensors embedded all around us.
Paradiso has been at the forefront of these developments for decades, exploring new applications for sensor networks in everything from music (he will lead a presentation of the lab’s musical innovations later this month at Moogfest) to baseball. In recent years, his group’s research has focused increasingly on smart buildings. I spoke with him about the implications of his work for the future of architecture and the built environment.
You run the Responsive Environments group at the Media Lab. Can you describe some of your work in the building realm?