**2. Concepts and tools**

The development of concepts and tools for Internet-based academic research and education such as Engelbart's proposal for using computers in the augmentation of human skills (1962) and Sutherland's Sketchpad as first graphical user interface for computers (1963), the establishment of the Internet (1969) and the development of interactive learning environments enabled universities to offer accredited graduate programs through online courses. While at the time, virtual and physical interaction was separated in corresponding educational programs, in the last decade, concepts such as Internet of Things, Ambient Intelligence (AmI), and ubiquitous computing (ubicomp) have introduced a conceptual and methodological paradigm shift manifested in the blur of boundaries between physical and virtual and the continuous integration of Internet-based concepts and tools into the academic everyday life. In this context, ubiquitous computing refers to the integration of information processing into everyday objects and activities (Weiser, 1988) while the Internet

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Other more sophisticated methods would include online three-dimensional (3D) virtual worlds providing synchronous and asynchronous interaction as well as collaboration.

Such systems would, obviously, require high-tech hardware and software equipment and would offer the possibility to flexibly accommodate time and space constraints of users, while reducing the demand on institutional infrastructure such as buildings. Educators, students and researchers attending virtual sessions would exchange and acquire knowledge asynchronously by reading documents from the database or studying videos, for instance, and synchronously by discussing problems, reviewing case studies, or actively participating in workshops. Communication in the synchronous virtual study room is, therefore, conceived as a collaborative study and research experience, where participants are

3D gaming environments inspired, in the last decade, researchers from different disciplines to develop computer-supported collaborative environments such as Protospace in which problem-based studying and researching is implemented. This enables physically and virtually present students and researchers to investigate and solve problems by working in groups, wherein participants identify what they know, what they need to know, and learn how to bridge the gap between the two by searching and accessing information from

In such a context, the role of the instructor, educator, or team leader is that of facilitating the process by suggesting appropriate references, and instigating critical discussions, while open-ended, ill-defined problems, addressed in collaborative group work are driving such a process (Armstrong, 1991). By exploring various strategies in order to understand the nature of the to-be-solved problem, by investigating the constraints and options to its resolution, as well as by acknowledging eventual different viewpoints, participants learn to negotiate between competing, even contradicting resolutions. These approaches implemented in Internet-supported multi-user, collaborative, game-like environments such as Protospace are well suited for addressing architectural and urban planning problems in education and

Such approaches are, however, not anymore confined to the classical concepts of the Internet-based education such as distance learning; instead they started to permeate the academic everyday life (Bier, 2011). Internet-based interaction is not anymore employed for distance learning only but it is integrated in the daily interaction, information and knowledge exchange between students, educators and researchers. While learning environments are increasingly accessed in various contexts and situations, ubiquitous

If ubiquitous learning (u-Learning) represents a relevant advancement in the development of distance learning, its obvious potential results from the enhanced possibilities of accessing content and computer-supported collaborative environments at any time and place. Furthermore, u-Learning enables seamless combination of virtual environments and physical spaces and allows embedding individual learning activities in everyday life so that learning activities are freed from schedule and spatial constraints, becoming pervasive and ongoing, prevalent within a large, diverse community consisting of students, educators,

interacting real-time with peers through web-conferencing and 3D gaming.

worldwide available databases that may lead to finding solutions.

increasingly replaces distance learning (Bomsdorf, 2005).

social communities, researchers, etc.

research.

of Things consists of uniquely identifiable (tagged) objects (Things) and their virtual representations inventoried and connected in an Internet-like structure (Ashton, 1999; Magrassi, et al. 2001).

Fig. 1. Protospace: An Internet-based multi-user physical and virtual environment for academic research and education developed by Hyperbody.

Envisioning Ambient Intelligence (AmI) as a physical environment that incorporates digital devices in order to support people in carrying out daily activities by using information and intelligence that is contained within the network connecting these devices (Zelkha et al., 1998), Protospace (http://www.hyperbody.nl/protospace) developed at Hyperbody (Fig. 1) can be seen as an embedded, networked hardware- and software system that is exhibiting characteristics of Ambient Intelligence. This implies that interactive, context aware (sensor-actuator) sub-systems are embedded into the spatial environment in such a way that they are context and user aware by collecting and mapping data with respect to users' movement and behaviour in relation to physical space, they are, when needed, tailored to individual needs, and furthermore, they are adaptive, responding to user and environmental changes, even anticipatory, as for instance, during interactive lectures and workshops described in following sections. Considering that information processing has been, meanwhile, increasingly integrated into physical spaces, everyday objects, human activities (Weiser, 1988) and ubiquitous computing (ubicomp) has become prevalent in everyday life, the following sections aim to critically asses what they offer architectural academic education and research, and thus reveal what challenges remain in their development and application.
