{"id":101590,"date":"2019-10-10T14:06:09","date_gmt":"2019-10-10T14:06:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.microsoft.com\/?p=434811"},"modified":"2019-10-10T14:06:09","modified_gmt":"2019-10-10T14:06:09","slug":"smiles-beam-and-walls-blush-architecture-meets-ai-at-microsoft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2019\/10\/10\/smiles-beam-and-walls-blush-architecture-meets-ai-at-microsoft\/","title":{"rendered":"Smiles beam and walls blush: Architecture meets AI at Microsoft"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Architecture meets AI<\/strong><\/h2>\n

For more than three weeks this summer in building 99, Sabin, Roseway and their teams of researchers, designers and engineers connected nodes and rods into the exoskeleton, stretched the fabric into place, strung LEDs, mounted stage lights and hung the tensegrity cone.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, McDuff\u2019s sensors began collecting data in public spaces throughout the building \u2013 the atrium, office kitchens and common areas.<\/p>\n

Each sensor is the size of a hide-a-key box and consists of a web camera and microphone wired to a black box the size of a cable modem that sends data over Wi-Fi to a secure Azure database.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I am complaining about something and I\u2019m angry and everything is going wrong, then it will hopefully detect that as negative, and if I am happy and it is sunny outside and positive, then it will detect that,\u201d explained McDuff.<\/p>\n

Horvitz, the director of Microsoft\u2019s research organization, noted his teams have already been exploring the value of harnessing AI technologies as part of building operations. For example, in 2012, his AI team developed and integrated into building 99 a system that employs machine learning and sensing to proactively order elevators based on observations of the patterns of people moving through the building. The system remains a part of daily life in the building.<\/p>\n

Separately, Schneider Electric, a global company working to digitally transform energy management in homes, buildings and industry, is working with Microsoft researchers to test whether AI could help reduce the carbon footprint of HVAC systems<\/a> that are used to heat and cool large buildings.<\/p>\n

Beyond applications of real-time sensing and action, AI is also starting to play a more fundamental role in design and engineering including methods that are helping architects explore out-of-the-box design possibilities under the real-world constraints of shape, strength and utility, noted Horvitz.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne can imagine other uses,\u201d he added. \u201cLike, how might environments in the future shift to make themselves be more conducive to collaboration based on the participants, and their goals and needs?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ada\u2019s algorithms are designed to convert any source of data into color and light. For example, the researchers imagine the smart canvas could also be used to visualize music, building vibrations, the number of people in a given space and other yet-to-be imagined scenarios.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnybody in here,\u201d Roseway said with an arm gesture sweeping across building 99, \u201ccan plug a mod in and get the piece to respond.\u201d<\/p>\n

For now, McDuff\u2019s sensing platform controls Ada\u2019s responsive light network. His final sensor is attached to the base of the tensegrity cone, allowing people within the pavilion to drive Ada. Standing there, looking around in awe, smiles come easy. The goal is for Ada to respond in kind.<\/p>\n

Related:<\/strong><\/h3>\n

John Roach writes about Microsoft research and innovation. Follow him on <\/em>Twitter<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Top image: Ada, designed and built by Microsoft artist in residence Jenny Sabin, fills an airy nook in building 99 on Microsoft\u2019s Redmond, Washington, campus. The installation translates data into color and light. Photo by John Brecher for Microsoft.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Architecture meets AI For more than three weeks this summer in building 99, Sabin, Roseway and their teams of researchers, designers and engineers connected nodes and rods into the exoskeleton, stretched the fabric into place, strung LEDs, mounted stage lights and hung the tensegrity cone. Meanwhile, McDuff\u2019s sensors began collecting data in public spaces throughout […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":101591,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[50],"class_list":["post-101590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-microsoft-news","tag-recent-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101590"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101590\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}