Space is Becoming an Instrument of Collective Memory

In this era of wireless communication, the rapidly evolving nature of the computing network is redefining the definition of time and space. Geographical location is almost meaningless to some people as distant places are connected virtually and instantaneously through the internet. Because of this characteristic, the invisible network has long been recognized as the shared virtual space where everything is linked.1 However, the conceptions and boundaries of our surrounding structures have changed much more drastically over the last 18 years since Mark Weiserʼs essay introduced the idea of pervasive and ubiquitous computing. Cyberspace is no longer considered merely a parallel universe to our own.2 Rather in a new era of technology, many believe that physical space will have the aspects of a virtual environment. In other words, in the pervasive computing environment, every object will share their data in the network cloud and communicate amongst themselves.3 At this point, I believe that the crucial questions around this idea of wireless communication in physical space should be focused on the relationship between human and the ubiquitous information. What happens if people have access to limitless information at any time without spatial constraint? What will be the roles of artists, engineers, and designers in this kind of world? I am not able to give precise answers to these questions yet. However, I am aware that the stored information would change the meaning of an architectural environment and the characteristics of objects. The internet infrastructure enabled people to customize their own spaces in the virtual world and cyberspace ha