An ‘Operating System’ for contemporary architecture (Arch-OS, ‘software for buildings’) has been developed to manifest the life of a building and provide artists, engineers and scientists with a unique environment for developing transdisciplinary work and new public art.

Arch-OS is a current attempt by the Institute of Digital Art & Technology www.i-dat.org (My old haunt) by members of the School of Computing, Communications and Electronics at the University of Plymouth to develop the evolution in intelligent architecture, interactive art and ubiquitous computing.

Here are the projects so far and here’s one that always gets a good reaction, the ‘Random Lift Button’.

Arch-OS systems (integrated hardware and software) available through this site incorporate a range of embedded technologies to capture audio-visual and raw digital data from a building through a variety of sources which include:

– the ‘Building Energy Management System (BEMS);
– computer and communications networks;
– the flow of people and social interactions;
– ambient noise levels;
– environmental conditions.