**5. Discussion and outlook**

The on-going fusion of the physical and the virtual reflected in the convergence of the Internet, mobile communication systems, and advanced human-computer interaction technologies generates a reality-virtuality continuum (Milgram, 1994) containing all possible degrees of real and virtual conditions so that the distinction between reality and virtuality becomes blurred.

In this context, Protospace as a reality-virtuality continuum facilitates not only interactive design and fabrication sessions but also interactive presentations for Internet-based graduate programs (E-Archidoct) becoming a relevant platform for studying and researching by connecting virtually students, educators and researchers from all over the world. This implies that Protospace connects users and data physically and virtually in such a way that activities in academic education and research are enhanced by the inherent use of knowledge, software and hardware applications incorporated into it and the available multiple interaction modes.

purpose of Internet-supported systems is, therefore, not anymore to only bridge time and distance but to support everyday academic education and research by incorporating ubiquitous, interactive devices into the physical space. In this context, Protospace can be seen as a prototype for pervasive computing that is integrated into physical space and is employed in academic daily life, whereas interaction between users and data takes place in

In such a networked system, users are connected with other users, multimedia databases and applications enabling reading and editing of data, sensing-actuating, and computing in such a way that users interact physically and virtually as needed in a physical, digitally-

By integrating concepts such as Autonomous Control (Uckelmann et al., 2010) the Internet of Things is envisioned as a network in which self-organized virtual and physical agents are able to act and interact autonomously with respect to context and environmental factors. Such context awareness (Gellersen et al., 2000) implies data collection and information exchange thus communication between users and physical environment; it may imply acquisition of data with respect to users' habits, emotions, bodily states, their social interaction, and their regular and spontaneous activities as well as context data with respect to spatial location, infrastructure, available resources, and physical conditions such as noise, light, and temperature. Information exchange thus communication between physical (sentient) environment and users may, however, not only imply accommodating but also

As a context aware system, Protospace is concerned with the acquisition of context data by means of sensors, as mentioned before, the interpretation of the data collected by sensors, and the triggering of accommodating and challenging actions as response to the interpretation of collected data, whereas responses may imply operation of electrical light, sun shading, and projection screens, depending on local and global needs, etc. Furthermore, Protospace's context awareness addresses also activity recognition as implemented in

The on-going fusion of the physical and the virtual reflected in the convergence of the Internet, mobile communication systems, and advanced human-computer interaction technologies generates a reality-virtuality continuum (Milgram, 1994) containing all possible degrees of real and virtual conditions so that the distinction between reality and virtuality

In this context, Protospace as a reality-virtuality continuum facilitates not only interactive design and fabrication sessions but also interactive presentations for Internet-based graduate programs (E-Archidoct) becoming a relevant platform for studying and researching by connecting virtually students, educators and researchers from all over the world. This implies that Protospace connects users and data physically and virtually in such a way that activities in academic education and research are enhanced by the inherent use of knowledge, software and hardware applications incorporated into it and the available

interactive lectures and CAD-CAM sessions described in the previous sections.

a networked, Internet-supported, embedded system.

augmented environment.

challenging interactions.

**5. Discussion and outlook** 

multiple interaction modes.

becomes blurred.

As technologies evolve and pervasive forms increasingly emerge, permeating all aspects of academic everyday life, concepts such as distance learning are gradually replaced by ubiquitous education and research implemented in sentient, interactive environments. The traditional divide between formal (physical) and informal (virtual) contexts of education and research is blurred. Technological as well as social, cultural, and institutional changes mean that learning, studying, and researching are possible across spatial and temporal barriers. Internet-supported academic education and research implies thus that the physical environment with integrated, networked, interactive devices such as Protospace incorporates increasingly aspects of context-awareness, adaptation, and anticipation, (Zelkha et al., 1998; Aarts et al., 2001) supporting virtual and physical everyday academic activities.

Such systems may show, however, as in the case of the E-Archidoct program, that only a limited amount of students may participate successfully in such a program. Reasons for this may be found not only in technological requirements but also in methodological constraints; Students and educators from all over Europe participating in E-Archidoct were confronted with one of the main barriers to such virtual collaborative interaction, which is the difficulty in achieving agreement when diverse viewpoints, cultural boundaries, and different working and cognitive learning styles exist (Dirckinck-Holmfeld, 2002).

Furthermore, students' limited access to necessary software and hardware as well as insufficient know-how in dealing with software and hardware was an additional problem: Some design assignments within E-Archidoct, for instance, required software and hardware to which not all students had access. Furthermore, local technical support (for tutors and students) was needed in order to ensure successful participation in the program, this, however, could not always be afforded.

Future developments of virtual and physical systems for Internet-based and –supported education require, therefore, access of all participants to software and hardware as well as development of computer literacy and technology know-how among them. This may be implemented via educating students and researchers with respect to the use of Internetbased facilities before starting specific education and research program but also implies development of user-friendly software.

However, interaction models whether menu-driven or GUI-based (Graphical User Interface) are improving and are increasingly supported by applications such as mobile phones, radio-frequency identification tags, and GPS (Global Positioning System). As these devices grow smaller, more connected and more integrated into spatial environments so that only multimodal user interfaces remain perceivable for users (Aarts et al., 2001), Hyperbody investigates and further develops their use for academic education and research. Protospace, for instance, may operate in the future as physical and virtual laboratory enabling users to even remotely conduct physical experiments from other geographical locations. The benefits of such remote laboratories are known in engineering education (Ferreira et al., 2010) and imply advantages such as: (1) Relaxation of time constraints and 24/7 accessibility; (2) Relaxation of geographical constraints and independence from physical locality of researchers; (3) Material costs reduction due to sharing of lab costs and avoiding start-up costs for new laboratories; (4) Enhanced sharing of knowledge, expertise and experience.

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In this context, research and education on architectural and urban design and production may be then implemented with students, educators, and experts from all over the world, interacting virtually and physically by means of multimodal interfaces, collaboratively working in a multi-user, gaming environment, that is enabling them to access and manipulate the same data on a common server synchronously or asynchronously, and even implement remotely CAD-CAM experiments.

The relevant question for the future seems to be, therefore, not whether intelligent, sentient environments may be built, but how these environments may be employed as instruments for enhanced, distributed problem solving (Bowen-James, 1997; Novak, 1997), how ubiquitous education and training may be implement in programs that promote digital democracy and literacy by bridging the digital divide (Norris, 2001), how intelligence may be embed into the physical environment in order to be made available to users.
