Area I: ToolSpace

ToolSpace is concerned with the development of a numerical, performance-oriented, generative or semi-generative spatial design system (TS1) as well as with the develop- ment of interactions, interfaces and displays for shaping space (TS2). From a technical point of view, these tools will allow for a much more precise analysis of the visual, acoustical, thermal, and structural properties of different design solutions at a much earlier stage in the design process. From a creative point of view it will provide an immediate experience of the sensory performance of these design solutions by multi-modal VR and AR displays and allow to transfer well-rehearsed forms of design actions to the handling of digital environments. From a social point of view, the results of ToolSpace will enable the cooperation between designers, engineers and users right from the very first design phases.

To ensure a consistent understanding of important terms, we will use modality to denote a path of communication between humans and technical devices, such as vision, audition, touch, or thermoception. These modalities operate on different domains, i.e., physical systems, such as light, acoustics, mechanics or thermodynamics. We use display to denote a device to communicate sensory information from a computer to the user, such as a visual display, tactile display, auditory display or thermal display. And we use rendering to denote the decoding of a digital representation in order to prepare the physical display of the encoded information, i.e., by adding color, shading, and texturing of an image, or by sound field synthesis with loudspeakers or headphones to simulate the acoustic conditions of the space.