A joint design research project (HES-SO) between ECAL, HEAD, EPFL-ECAL Lab & EPFL
Three drawings from the previous series of scenario that resume quite well what we intend to do:
An objectified cloud (a combination of open source software, automated behaviors and physical data controllers),
… that would find its physical location in a kind of retrofitted and open source 10″ cabinet,
… to let anyone create and manage its own “tiny” and personal/home data center, based on existing or newly created open source technology.
Based on the design guidelines drawn from the wrap-up (recently published on this blog) and following a logic of “branching” from the existing (forks, branches, hacks, versions, etc.), we’ve identified in collaboration with the research team four main design projects/artifacts to further investigate in the context of Inhabiting and Interfacing the Cloud(s), following the questions addressed by the research project. These design artifacts are intended to become the major outputs from our joint research:
1° We will continue develop the open source tools, the related procedures and our OwnCloud Processing library, possibly developing a Javascript version of it as well. (Christian Babski)
2° By way of practical applications about these libraries, we will design and develop I&IC’s “branches” of OwnCloud (OwnCloud + scripts). They will favor alternative ways to operate and interact with the Cloud in direct link with the identified “motivations” to use this universal service. (Patrick Keller, Christian Babski)
3° A set of networked data objects (“controllers”, kind of…) will be developed directly in connection with the above “branches” of OwnCloud. In order to embody the usually hidden processes and data so as to trigger objective interactions with the personal cloud. (Lucien Langton)
4° We will retrofit the 19″ server cabinet built around the standard unit “U” with the purpose to create a domestic version, a kind of modular and highly decentralized “house/personal data center”. (Léa Pereyre)
In order to address the maker and designer communities, users will be able to openly access the blueprints, the parts, the files or the code of these elements (librairies, OwnCloud versions, “controllers”, 19″ Cabinet and develop or adapt their own versions from them).
I drew a series of scribbles lately to sustain our investigations towards this final design scenario. It will serve to frame the development range for our design artifacts (points 1° – 4° above and top slideshow). It is further explained with additional information and images below, after the break.
Following Nicolas Nova’s wrap-up regarding the ethnographic research about Cloud Computing which came to an end last April (publication to come) in the frame of Inhabiting and Interfacing the Cloud(s) (I&IC) and learning from it, it is also time for me to write a midterm status report about the design aspects of this ongoing work. It is the occasion to resume what we’ve been through along the process and highlight the most important elements.
“No-Stop City” (A. Branzi, 1969) used as an illustration in the founding document of the I&IC design research.
Image retrieved from the post “I&IC Preliminary Intentions” (05.09.2014).
We are therefore trying to put in evidence in this article what we’ve learned so far during the process and where this might lead us as design strategies during the last year of this design study. This while knowing that our plans are to produce design artifacts and functional prototypes as results of this research process — among other ones (books, tools, etc.)
Note: the 6 research workshops we organized in the frame of Inhabiting and Interfacing the Cloud(s) took place during the “preliminary sketches” phase. A known and common phase that takes place in the course of each design process, during which we could naturally involve peers partners and students so to increase our “trials and errors”.
The outcomes of these experimental workshops were further analyzed in two posts by N. Nova and P. Keller (ethnographic “Lessons” and design “Learnings“), to further develop design proposals as the main results of this research, along with two publications to come.
Introduction to I&IC & field study (10.2014) – no sound :
Soilless – a research introduction and a field study from iiclouds.org design research on Vimeo.
More information about “Soilless, diagrams of uses” at HEAD – Genève on iiclouds.org
Situations, usages and alternative clouds (01.2016 & 11.2014), at HEAD – Genève:
Cloud Gestures – A workshop with S. Pohflepp at HEAD – Genève from iiclouds.org design research on Vimeo.
More information about Cloud Gestures on iiclouds.org
Cloudified Scenarios – a workshop with James Auger at HEAD – Genève on Vimeo.
More information about Cloudified Scenarios on iiclouds.org
Interaction and data interfaces (11.2014 & 11.2015), at ECAL:
Botcaves – a workshop with Matthew Plummer-Fernandez at ECAL on Vimeo.
More information about Networked Data Objects / Botcaves on iiclouds.org
The Everlasting Shadows – a workshop with rAndom International at ECAL from iiclouds.org design research on Vimeo.
More information about The Everlasting Shadow on iiclouds.org
Networked and decentralized cloud infrastructures (02.2015), at EPFL-ECAL Lab:
Data territories – a workshop at EPFL-ECAL Lab with ALICE from iiclouds.org design research on Vimeo.
More information about Distributed Data Territories on iiclouds.org
Note: after a Summer “pause” mostly dedicated to a mid-term exhibition and publication of our joint design-research, we are preparing to dive again into the I&IC project for 18 months. This will first happen next November through a couple of new workshops with guest designers/partners (Dev Joshi from Random International at ECAL and Sascha Pohflepp at HEAD). We will take the occasion to further test different approaches and ideas about “The cloud”. We will then move into following steps of our work, focused around the development of a few “counter-propositional” artifacts.
But before diving again, I take the occasion to reblog an article by James Bridle published earlier this year and that could act as an excellent reminder of our initial questions, so as a good way to relaunch our research. Interestingly, Brindle focuses on the infrastructural aspects of the cloud (mostly pointing out the “hard” parts of it), which may in fact become the main focus of our research as well in this second phase. Scaled down certainly…
Via Icon (thanks Lucien for the reference)
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There’s something comforting about the wispy metaphor for the network that underpins most aspects of our daily lives. It’s easy to forget the reality of its vast physical infrastructure
At the occasion of the first peer reviewed conference we’ll take part with the I&IC project (Renewable Futures in Riga) and following the exhibition at H3K last Summer 2015 (Poetics and Politics of Data), Lucien Langton edited and produced a short teaser about our design research that dive into misunderstandings and paradoxes that concern the “Cloud(s)”!
Inhabiting & Interfacing the Cloud(s), can “weather affect cloud computing”? from iiclouds.org design research on Vimeo.
Or should we start thinking about tiny clusters of Raspberry Pis?
It seems that they’ve already done some debugging and Lego constructions at the Southampton University! (for a “supercomputer” though).
... Along the design research, we are going through many different types of references that we don't necessarily post or document ...
The website presenting the downloadable results of the joint design and ethnographic research Inhabiting and Interfacing the Cloud(s) is now ...