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The digital 'soul' of smart materials. Creating programmable environmentswithout parts

Ouggrinis Konstantinos-Alketas

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Summary

To begin with, one needs to investigate the definition of the word ‘digital’. During thepast 10 years, the digital discourse has presented a variety of contexts within whichone could search for definitions. From a scientific perspective, a digital system is ableto handle raw data by assigning to it discrete (discontinuous) values in order to file it.“Although digital representations are discrete, the information represented can be eitherdiscrete, such as numbers and letters, or continuous, such as sounds, images, andother measurements.”1 On the other hand, non-digital (or analog) systems use a continuousrange of values to represent information. The word ‘digital’ is most commonlyused in computing and electronics, especially where actual, real-world informationis converted to binary numerical values. It can also be used to describe a process inwhich information is deconstructed into tagged and valued little pieces that can beformed in various ways, either to be analyzed, manipulated or represented. The coreof this idea is the breakdown of continuous sets of data perceived by human cognitionto a seemingly limitless body of values.2The first digital tools appeared as simple data processors, going through endlessstreams of disconnected values, such as product prices for the market as well as forstatistics. This task marked the birth of computation. More refined machines emergedduring the World War II, when the Allies were struggling to break the German codes.Since then, the ability to simulate and compare revolutionized the industry, leadingat one point to the adaptation of these early electronic tools for designing purposes,although mainly for mechanical assemblies. Later on, sophisticated control systemsemerged, introducing automation in production and smoother operations. The digitaltools became media the moment they were able to relate disconnected values, creatingentities that resembled the analog. It was this step that made them popular, becausefrom that time on, they became understandable. The products seemed smoothor continuous to the naked eye and only through an extensive zoom mode the pixeleffect was revealed. From a Husserlian point of view, if it looks smooth/analog then itis considered as such. This is the moment when the digital definition became blurred.

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