Harvard Converts Residential Property into Technology Center
WASHINGTON — A residential structure was redesigned by DMJM Design to house the technology-rich Center for Hellenic Studies for Harvard University, which will be used as an educational center for remote teaching.
Designed with international lectures in mind, the facility will include specialized materials that allow remote users to appear and interact with the class as if they were meeting in person. The $400,000 renovation will result in a facility featuring technology that allows people around the world to listen, participate and record teaching sessions.
Central space in the 2,600-square-foot facility is flexible. The interior of the building is wrapped in fabric that allows a variety of communication paradigms to utilize the space as though it were a projection screen. A professor will conduct the class with the ability to display images and interact with remote students as though they were in the room.
Images of full classrooms in areas such as Greece or China will appear in real-time on the translucent fabric walls while a class is in session. Screens will be set up around the room where students would be if they were physically present and project images of the students.
The building will also have seating for students to attend lectures in person.
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The residential structure at Harvard was converted into a teaching facility with interactive distance-learning technology and a new glass entry. |
LED lights hidden behind the textile membrane of the room can be adjusted as needed and louvers can be lowered on the windows to block external light from the room.
Voice-to-text software will be applied to the classroom and will automatically translate recoded lectures into a text file that will be stored on a server.
The residential structure at Harvard was converted into a teaching facility with interactive distance-learning technology and a new glass entry.