New technologies, social perspectives and communication roles within the knowledge society

Nowadays the entire process of creation and communication of knowledge is in the middle of a profound transformation. In the background there is our Web civilization, got used to a technology encapsulated into everyday objects, into multimedia devices and digital artifacts, or embedded within artificial environments and intelligent systems. Technology-augmented tools are offering the possibility of expanding natural boundaries, of enriching our senses and awareness, of pervading every single moment of our life. The thesis tries to approach what is happening in our Knowledge Society, where new technological devices and tools are modifying our lifestyles and activities, pervading the environments where we conduct academic research, read write or publish new cultural contents, teach and learn at school: social and academic networks, virtual and augmented worlds, tablets and e-readers, large interactive screens and Interactive WhiteBoards are populating our space and time, changing our way of generating and sharing knowledge. After deepening the Knowledge Society concept and future perspectives, the aim of the thesis is to describe some of the latest possibilities offered by the mutated technological scenario, such as Ubiquitous Computing paradigm, new interfaces, virtual/augmented world opportunities, and reflect upon the new social behaviors and paradigms that can rise: the description of different case studies and personal experimentations will show new participating opportunities and the deconstruction of established roles within research, cultural and educational contexts.