Ambient Co-Presence

he Multiplayer Internet needs a Gradient of Presence.

We can be: ...

Alone in Alone Spaces

Alone in Together Spaces

Together in Alone Spaces

Together in Together Spaces

but the presence is a spectrum:

Lean In (Dominant)

Leank Back (Ambient)

We’ve lost gradients of intimacy, a concept from architecture, the ability to loiter and meander through a space, engaging when we want in varying levels of expression. We don’t have any peripheral vision on the internet. We have to be in one place or the other. Simultaneously, we’re never really in any place—we can always blame connection issues a... See more

And there was something else to look at what urban planner William White calls triangulation. You don't have to directly engage with other people who are here. You can both be looking at the fire. You're having a nice time. You're warm, you're feeling good. And over the course of sitting for a while, there's opportunity to strike up a conversation ... See more