Architecture and Robotics

Posted 29 May 2007 at 11:46 UTC by mwaibel

As robots get smaller, smarter and cheaper they slowly but surely invade our homes. And while the smart home is certainly not a new concept (compare the Xanadu houses built in 1979), some recent projects are moving beyond extensions to the clapper switch: Jason Johnson at the University of Virginia School of Architecture has started a new program called "Robotic Ecologies". As outlined in a brief article, Johnson is working on buildings that reconfigure their shape according to external conditions like wind and sun as well as to the movements of people inside - check out his blog. Frederic Kaplan at the EPFL is working on active furniture for a new learning center to open end of 2008. And finally Philips is following a similar trend with their HomeLab, integrating their home entertainment systems with interactive toys and mirrors. As Roland Piquepaille notes on Slashdot: "Maybe one day, we'll talk to our homes and they'll answer." And with the possibility of a rapid prototyping robot house builder still open, maybe they'll do far more than that...