Check the official homepage for the ibib project : http://www.interactivespaces.net


Vision

The vision of The Hybrid Library Project is to create aesthetic and engaging Augmented Reality environments and spaces in the library of the future. Hereby changing the library of today into a physical interactive portal of knowledge – an experimental space for interaction with information.

In combination the functional and perceived picture of these new environments should both grant access to information search and guidance and offer the users alternative possibilities for public cultural production and debate.

Background

The traditional library faces a number of future challenges, which are interconnected with society’s increasing use of IT-technology. This digitalisation of our everyday life has to be reflected in the opportunities and activities the future library has to offer, if the library wishes to keep its position as a strong cultural institution in our society.

In this process focus will move from the library being a place for borrowing and reading printed material to being a place where a wide range of media – especially digital media – will be available to the users and will play an ever increasing role in the activities on site. Through this process the future libraries will be suited to support users in learning and processing different media – hereby reaching a state of multimedia literacy.

The project

Applying disciplines such as architecture, computer science, Augmented Reality and participatory design, the purpose of the Hybrid Library Project is to create a number of design proposals in relation to the physical shape and organization of the library environment. Also the project aims to create demonstrators of how IT-technologies can augment the physical spaces. On an experimental level these demonstrators can be implemented into daily use situations in a shorter period of time.

Using Aarhus Municipal Library as test case the work of the Hybrid Library Project will be carried out in conjunction with the other activities and spatial arrangements already present in the physical environment at the case library.

The Hybrid Library Project is running until May 2004.