KMDI - Knowledge Media Design Institute

Knowledge media are building blocks of a knowledge society

• Research Projects

Research & Other Projects

Themes

Research at KMDI may be viewed in terms of 4 themes:

• Knowledge media for learning - the application of computer, communications, and cognitive sciences to knowledge building, problem solving, planning, education, and training, especially to facilitate collaborative, distance and multimedia-based learning
• Technologies for knowledge media - research and development of technologies and the technological infrastructure required to construct knowledge media, including interactive computer graphics, scientific visualization, hypertext, multimedia , databases, natural language processing, and artificial intelligence
• Human-centred design - the design science of human-computer interaction and of the creation of innovative computer systems and interfaces appropriate for human use, and more generally in the human factors of complex real-world systems and t echnologies, as rooted in research from applied cognitive science, psychology, and sociology
• Knowledge media, culture, and society - reflection and analysis of the social implications of the increasing reliance on new technologies. As information and new media technologies challenge fundamental beliefs, this area of research deals broadly with such issues as the nature of communities and institutions, work and employment, the balance of public and private good, privacy, copyright and intellectual property.

Five major projects are currently administered by the Institute:

Project Open Source | Open Access

ePresence Interactive Media

NECTAR: Network for Effective Collaboration Technologies through Advanced Research

Media Generator

CONCERT: The Consortium on New Media, Creative, and Entertainment R&D in the Toronto Region

Research projects

The networked and distributed nature of the KMDI community fosters conversation and intellectual debate across traditional disciplinary boundaries. KMDI as the University of Toronto's first virtual institue (1996) is itself a source of instituional innovation in terms of organisational form. The Institute's ability to mobilises knowledge across the disciplines allows us to be an intellectual incubator for the university. Other projects led by KMDI members, or in which members of the KMDI community are involved are listed in the Projects section of this site.

Working collaboratively and across disciplines allows us to see further, faster...

...KMDI Director, Gale Moore

University of Toronto's Knowledge Media Design Institute named Local Change Maker in Information, Massive Change Exhibit, Art Gallery of Ontario, 2005

Design Research in Canada

• Design Research Canada - Design Research Canada connects academics with partners in the private, public, and non-governmental sectors. We foster innovation through excellence in design research. We bridge the gap between research and application, connect design research to the world and advance the Canadian culture of design through education, outreach, and collaboration.