Kairoscope : coordinating time socially

If everyone says time is relative, why is it still so rigidly defined? There have been many attempts to address the issue of coordinating schedules, but each of these attempts runs into an issue of rigidity: in order to negotiate an event, a specific time must be designated in advance. This model is inherently poor at accommodating life's unpredictability. Kairoscope looks at time from a human perspective, focusing on time as made up of a series of events, rather than simply a series of events in time. This removes our reliance on a fixed time system, thus allowing people to coordinate events socially and on the fly, without worrying about precision. This thesis explores the creation of Kairoscope, rooted in ideas behind our perception of time, and created with the goals of reducing time-related stress, optimizing for use of time, and increasing social interaction. The proposal is a model of contextually-aware agents, constantly in communication with each other. The result is a socially-coordinated, constantly adapting, and highly malleable system to guide users through time and their schedules, without the heavy burden of precise planning. This thesis evaluates the potential implications of and the reactions to this model, as well as the design and interactions necessary to create such a system.

Department dc:contributor.department

Program in Media Arts and Sciences (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2010

Author dc:creator

• Martin, Reed

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Henry Holtzman.

• Architecture. Program in Media Arts and Sciences.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/62078

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/62078