Florian Root, MediaLAB ALumnus will present his work this week in San Francisco at the Conference for Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing.
Read this post about his journey from a small idea in the Lab, to presenting on a big stage in San Francisco.
February 27–March 2, 2016
“A little more than a year ago I worked on a project at the MediaLAB Amsterdam in collaboration with Bell Labs while writing my bachelors thesis. Back then I didn’t know yet that the academic paper I have written is accepted at the CSCW conference in San Francisco and I will be presenting it coming Sunday.
It began a year ago when I was teamed up with Miho Saito and Li Zilong from the Kyushu University in Fukuoka Japan, Michiel Hennekam from the Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences and coach Marco van Hout from the MediaLAB. We started working on a brief from Bell Labs Antwerp to develop a working prototype for the future workplace, redesigning the workplace to fit the needs of the (ageing) employee.
We went through various prototypes and were looking at all aspects of the workplace and the people within these workplaces. What are their needs, what are their dreams, what are their goals? We discovered that concentration within the office is one of the hardest problems to tackle due to the fact that the office-space is a more vibrant and dynamic space that is not only used for silent and individual work. The office is transformed into an open- and flexible space where privacy is minimal. We used data collection tools and interventions to see how we can create value for the employees and re-design the way people behave in the workplace to fit their need for various activities.
Hummbi was born, “A Tool to Get Data-Driven, Real-Time Advise for Finding a Place to Concentrate in Flexible Open-Offices”. Using close to real time data it is possible to map the dynamic sound- and movement-levels of the office in order to find the best places for people to concentrate.
it is hard to expect anything from coming Sunday because I personally have never been to a conference, let alone in Silicone Valley, let alone speaking at a conference like this. I am really looking forward to this challenge and am grateful for the support of the MediaLAB and in specific Marco van Hout, and special thanks to Michiel Hennekam and my Japanese friends Miho Saito and Li Zilong. ”
Link prototype: https://marvelapp.com/6i5703