The challenge

Telecommuting, telework and telepresence are regarded as 'eco-friendly' alternatives to travel. The use of metaphors from the real world ('face-to-face' becomes 'screen-to-screen') has led to the idea of telepresence as a replacement of direct presence. This, however, is too simple. The challenge is to create a new feeling of "presence" -- how will we meet if we can't shake hands and which space will we then share?

The parallel lives of Mr. John Smith

John Smith lives near Stockholm in a relatively small community. He enjoys his local community, but also engages in intimate relationships with distant friends. His lives are about these relationships.

Fluid bridges of communication

Every evening, John meets his Italian friend Giovanni in "Bar Italia". Through communication, they learn what's happening in different places. However, John is in Stockholm (Sweden), Giovanni in Bari (Italy). "Bar Italia" is a 24-hour-a-day connection between Stockholm and Bari: in both cities, there is a real café where people from the two communities meet through screens and other interfaces, and leave traces of the presence of each other. The model of communication they use is called `fluid bridges of communication'. Information is shared continuously, and the communities evolve together.

Fluid place of communication

In his second life, John meets all his friends and spends time with them. When John is at home, he feels the presence of his friends. He has a `fluid curtain of communication' in his home. It is beautiful, large screen, curving through his living room, with curtains that can cover it. Today, the curtain is wide open. John and his friends are making a movie together. They are talking, showing each other clips and sharing documents. Each of John's friends is in a different place, but they all share the space of his home. With the curtains closed, John feels the presence of his friends in an intimate way, although he is not available for direct communication. When he slightly opens the curtain, his friends are more present: he can hear their voices, see their faces. This model is called the `fluid place of communication'. John can access a shared environment, where the presence of his friends can be felt in varying degrees of intimacy.

Fluid net of communication

In his third life, John needs to face the problem of grandma. Grandma lives in Shanghai. As the use of airplanes has been greatly restricted because of Factor 20, grandma decided to stay in Shanghai. But she and John are linked.

Returning home, John knows that grandma is alright. He feels it because the patterns of the presence of grandma are okay, quite fluid. Every day, grandma does the same usual things and traces of her activities are visible in John's home. John is comforted, because last week something was wrong with grandma. Returning home, he saw strange patterns on the ceiling. He didn't know what was happening, but something was wrong. This model is called a `fluid net of communication'. Although it is not an explicit form of communication, it is quite convenient.

Here we see three different models of communication, none of which is an alternative to the other. The three models and the three lives of John are parallel lives. He can choose who to admit into each life. There are different layers of communication and different people belong to different places of communication.

What we have is not real-time, doesn't mimic real-life, and is not deliberate or explicit. What we have is something that is both more permanent as well as more fluid. It is low resolution, yet highly sensorial; incidental, yet very often nicer. And, above all, implicit. This kind of communication will not replace the `real person-to-person' communication -- it is beyond being there.

Participants

• Dawn Barrett, Head Department of Design, Jan van Eyck Academy, The Netherlands
• Anthony Dunne, Researcher, Designer, Dunne and Raby, UK
• Armin-Felix Greiner, Assistant, Media Art School, Germany
• Clive van Heerden, Principal Designer, Philips Research Redhill, UK
• Peter Heerema, Senior Policy Official, Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment, Directorate-General for Environmental Management, The Netherlands
• Jack Mama, Interaction Designer, Philips Corporate Design, The Netherlands
• Fiona Raby, Architect, Researcher, Royal College of Art, London, and Dunne and Raby, UK
• Emilie Randoe, Journalist, Nieuws Tribune, The Netherlands
• Rob Rutgers, Designer, The Netherlands
• Marc Steen, Industrial Designer, Technical University Delft, The Netherlands
• Jasper Steutel, System Products Group, Canon Europa, The Netherlands
• Marco Susani, Director of Research Center, Domus Academy, Italy (moderator)
• Jacoliene van Wijk, Technical Scientist, KPN Research, The Netherlands
• Jan de Waal, System Designer, Grey Interactive, The Netherlands

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