Roomware and Intelligent Buildings – buildings and objects become computer interfaces

Information Technology until recent years mainly have been driven by technological possibilities based on research methods developed within engineering and natural science. The capacity and the ever-decreasing size of IT enable penetration into almost any object. IT can no longer be regarded as an isolated technological possibility; through networks and telecommunication it has become an integrated part of our everyday life. We illustrate this perspective with a point of departure in supporting work practices for Designers and Architects by examples from our interactive room laboratory, the iRoom. IT alters the ways we connect both cultural and social. On the basis of this aesthetic research perspectives have become essential in the further development of IT research regarding the environmental impact and cultural changes imposed by the use of IT. Furthermore IT has the potential to alter the premises for design and architecture in more general terms. This paper will discus ways and premises for enabling a common basis of both scientific and aesthetic research in this domain and ways of including architectural and artistic approaches to integration of IT in living and work environments.