L’interfaccia dissolta: progettare negli spazi aumentati

As predicted in 1980 by the futurologist Alvin Toffler, we find ourselves today immersed in a new environment called the infosphere. Within this realm, information made available, accessible, and shared through Information & Communication Technologies (ICTs) has a substantial impact on our daily lives, transforming the way we perceive and interact with the world. Our relationship with information has, until now, been guided by an encyclopedic ideal based on accumulation, grounded in the assumption that a greater quantity of information would expand our cognitive capacities and lead to a better understanding of the surrounding world. However, within a constantly growing infosphere, the increase in accumulated information does not necessarily contribute to a deeper understanding of our everyday experience. The ability to filter, analyze, and comprehend information—a crucial form of information literacy—has become essential for navigating effectively in an increasingly complex digital environment. Within this scenario, the distinction between the real and virtual dimensions is progressively blurring. Spatial augmentation technologies represent a particularly significant expression of this convergence: interactive urban installations, responsive environments, and augmented reality systems overlay informational layers onto physical space, redefining the ways in which we access the infosphere. In such a context, the designer's role involves shaping technological mediations that do not merely facilitate access to information, but that critically consider the social, ethical, and perceptual implications of such interventions on public space. The contribution of this research is articulated on two complementary levels. On the theoretical level, the thesis proposes conceptual tools to understand the transformations of digital interfaces through a historical-technical reconstruction. From the earliest computational interfaces to current hybrid and distributed systems, it identifies recurring design dynamics such as the physical and logical opacity of systems, the dialectic between transparency and control, and the split between individualization and sharing of the technological experience. On the operational level, adopting the Research through Design methodology, the research materializes these dialectics by developing augmented reality prototypes (mixed reality, mobile AR, tangible and hybrid interfaces) that explore design strategies for preserving the collective dimension of augmented space while employing personal devices.