e.calogero at ucl.ac.uk

The research explores the impact of school design on pupil movement. Spatial cofiguration analysis and agent-based simulation techniques are used to analyse a sample of school designs. Observation studies have been designed to gather data for the study. Quantitative data will be collected on the pupils' movements and occupation patterns. Qualitative data will also be gathered on their opinions of the design. The intended result is to consider the efficacy of existing models and analysis techniques for school design. It is hoped that in the process, light will also be shed on the  potential impact of the physical design of schools on pupil aspiration and attainment, as well as their behaviour, once socio-economic variables have been accounted for.

[www.urbanrisk.com]

s.hanna at ucl.ac.uk

This research uses machine learning algorithms to deal with the complexities of architectural design problems that are either too computationally cumbersome to model or impossible to state explicitly. As an alternative to traditional engineering optimisation, such techniques can provide faster and more intuitive methods of working with complex systems. Methods are presented for deriving solutions based on existing precedents in two types of design task: space frame design and the social configuration of office spaces.

[www.sean.hanna.net]

Katrin.Jonas at burohappold.com

The intention is to develop an interactive digital method to design structural envelopes in which the building components as much as their global configurations are informed by representative conceptual, structural, manufacturing and construction considerations. To make use of the fact that we can reduce time and space through computational capacity we employ a multi-objective evolutionary technique to evolve and search for solutions which reflect defined parameter and fitness criteria. The process developed is supposed as a learning tool for understanding design decision making and their impact onto the design at the intersection of Architecture and Engineering.

[www.burohappold.com]

christopher.leung at ucl.ac.uk

This research is in the field of dynamic architecture, buildings that respond to their environment. Designing dynamic architecture presents a particular modelling challenge to architects and engineers. The outcome of a modelling exercise depends to an extent on the quality of the knowledge about the interactions between a system and its environment over time. This knowledge may be improved by using working physical prototypes and recording their interactions in a realistic environment, this provide data to validate and tune virtual models. The topic of this research is to investigate tools that could support the improvement of virtual models in this way using case-studies. The case-studies look at an example of a responsive construction element that may be used to animate a dynamic architecture. The research outcome may be used to evaluate the performance of a dynamic architecture by having available an accurate and robust model of behaviour. The first pilot study looks at the behaviour of passive wax pistons as a drive element and how this may be used to animate a dynamic construction element, an evaluation looks at the changes to the energy performance of a building envelope using such a drive element. The image capture shown is from a collaborative project in the Kielder Forest with Phil Ayres and Bob Sheil of Sixteen*(makers), a dynamic sculpture that responds to temperature change using a passive wax piston.

[www.chrisleung.org]

mail at abelmaciel.com

This project will explore the hypothesis of graphical modelling of design as an integration strategy for the management of building construction projects. It is planned to develop in two stages: The first one will investigate geometrical modelling as the pivot for determinants of architectural design, such as sustainability and planning principles. By developing digital modelling tools for specific case studies, the exercise will look for conflicts and efficiencies of the modelling process when contextualized in a multidisciplinary environment. This will inform a second stage, which will investigate methods to preserve and trade design assets generate by the different parties organising a B.I.M from the initial architectural conceptualization through all phases of a construction project. The geometrical modelling techniques to be develop will also explore the significance of intelligent systems as a constituent of the building representations and their applicability as an optimization tool for design co-ordination in the virtual collaborative work environment.

[www.abelmaciel.com]

karen.martin at ucl.ac.uk

The aim of the research is to explore the integration of mobile technologies into the existing spatial and social networks that make up a city. The focus of the research is on the design of location-based services for the urban environment and how the properties of engagement, appropriateness, form and use might influence, and be influenced by, the spatial and socio-cultural setting in which these designs are located.

[www.prusikloop.org]

a.moore at cs.ucl.ac.uk

I work in the field of Computer Vision, a branch of Artificial Intelligence, whose goal is to teach computers to understand natural images. Natural images are those that you see with your own eyes or those captured with standard cameras; no special optics, modalities or constrained lighting conditions are required. Humans are very good at this; Computers are not!
My research involves parsing images, that is trying to understand the relationship between all objects in a scene, rather than detecting particular objects. More specifically, I am interested in parsing road scenes.

[www.amooreucl.co.uk]

jamie.obrien at uclmail.net

Brain injury can profoundly disrupt the everyday processes of perception, leading to a world that is fragmented, noisy and often debilitating. Virtual reality as a technology of perception can provide a way of rebuilding the subject’s ‘body image’ in the context of complex social spaces. This subjective map can accommodate the ever-shifting parameters and content of the environment, and can change in dimension and detail as the subject recovers his or her sensory-motor function. The challenge ahead is to establish a stable, universal system that can be readily used by neuro-rehabilitation clinicians and their patients.

[http://www.uclmail.net/users/jamie.obrien/]

j.tompkin at cs.ucl.ac.uk

Real-time rendering using traditional computer graphics techniques has difficulty producing realistic, natural images. An alternative to these techniques are image-based techniques. Image-based or video-based rendering (VBR) attempts to produce realistic virtual environments by using camera captured images as input to the scene. Capture is often conducted using fish-eye lenses or camera arrays. The task in VBR is in warping these captured realistic images into a convincing virtual environment. Many difficulties exist: rendering 'stochastic' dynamic objects (trees, fire) and 'purposed' dynamic objects (cars, pedestrians), integrating non-VBR objects consistently, varying lighting conditions post-capture, et cetera. This research, in association with the BBC, is attempting to meet some of these difficulties so as to provide realistic, dynamic virtual environments.

[www.cs.ucl.ac.uk/staff/j.tompkin]