Physical-virtual instead of physical or virtual - designing artefacts for future knowledge work environments

Among designers of knowledge work environments (KWEs) it is common to distinguish between those involved in designing the virtual part (software designers) and the physical part (office tool manufacturers, architects etc.) of the environments. Recent advances in user interface technology, for example (Fitzmaurice et al. 1995, Harrison et al. 1998, Ishii and Ullmer 1997, Mackay 1998, Rekimoto 1997) evokes the question whether this distinction is really a suitable starting point when designing future KWEs. As physical things get connected to virtual representations and virtual objects get physically augmented user interfaces, artefacts are no longer either physical or virtual. They are physical-virtual. Thus, to divide the environment in a physical and virtual part is a convention which limits design ideas, as new enabling technology (tiny radio-based digital networks, wireless motion tracking systems, digital ID-tags etc.) emerge.