Towards Habitable Bits: Digitizing the Built Environment

Recently, there has been a growing number of research efforts aimed at the digitization of architectural space. Whereas conventional attempts at integrating digital technology into architectural space have typically viewed architecture as an inflexible backdrop onto which layers of digital devices/services/information can be overlaid, the newly emerging efforts instead strive to inject architecture itself with the distinct plasticity of digital bits. In this paper, we will first provide a review of this nascent body of work, weaving together the disparate streaks of technical development into a consilient research trajectory that can be interpreted as a modern-day extension to Weiser's original vision of Ubiquitous Computing. Next we turn to the two decades' worth of criticisms raised against the UbiComp ideal, to expose what perspectives are missing from the fledgling efforts, and to identify the roles the HCI community can play in shaping the future of this promising line of work.