LABSEM is a multidisciplinary laboratory for studies, research, events and productions based on semiotics. It initially brings together four academic units from different centres at UERJ - in addition to the ESDI at the Centre for Technology and Sciences, the Institute of Letters, the Faculty of Teacher Training and the Faculty of Social Communication at the Centre for Education and Humanities - with a view to promoting technical-academic-scientific dialogue between these areas and their sub-areas.

A CNPq-certified research group, the Design and Anthropology Laboratory (LaDA) investigates the theoretical and methodological possibilities of combining the modes of knowledge production inherent to design and anthropology, both understood as social sciences. As part of the Research Network for Design Anthropology, an international network that brings together researchers in the field of design anthropology, LaDA is part of the emerging field of knowledge that is taking shape in the midst of the transdisciplinary space between the two areas, anthropology and design.

To investigate the possibilities of combining modes of knowledge production in design and anthropology, contributing to a critical reflection on transdisciplinarity and its implications for the consolidation of design as a field of research. To contribute to the establishment of research practices in design, here taken as an applied social science, which allow us to point to other ways of tackling the challenges facing this professional area in the midst of the complexity of the contemporary world.

It aims to set the field of design in motion, with its theories and practices, through an articulation between different fields of knowledge: design, anthropology, social sciences and politics. This first movement, which is essentially theoretical, unfolds in a multiplicity of practices that involve different actors/agents, institutional and non-institutionalised spaces, as well as a series of methodologies and tools to be tested in experiments.

This line of research aims to address methods and techniques inspired by the visualisation of information that effectively contribute to the user experience of the consumer of such information. One of the critical applications that deserves to be highlighted is the visualisation of information in electronic contracts. As a result of the technological revolution and the rise of the network society, the number of transactions carried out electronically has increased, especially given the need for speed in transactions on a global scale. However, contracts and documents originating from electronic means still cause uncertainty as to their validity and effectiveness for consumers, which creates strong legal uncertainty for those who wish to use these contractual means. In other words, the problem of too much data and information creates major difficulties in communication between consumers and companies, causing uncertainty, conflicts in decision-making and even a lack of interest in using this medium. As a methodological basis, the science of design is considered to be the approach by which problems should be dealt with and solutions proposed, considering not only the theoretical component of the issues dealt with, but also the directions and developments in the practical world.

The research is aimed at surveying and documenting: a) the state of the art of image processing techniques, fostered by scientific research aimed at developing specific algorithms that operate on digital or digitised photographs; b) the historical roots of the radical reformulation of contemporary visual language that these techniques imply. Both approaches will be guided by the question of the status of photography as evidence.

It is a laboratory for developing projects and research in interaction design that was created with the technical participation of Malmö University, Sweden, and under the sponsorship of FAPERJ. The LDI currently provides its students with PCs and MACs, Arduino microcontrollers, sensors and actuators.

This project is linked to an interaction design laboratory for digital artefacts to support the PPDESDI's Design and Technology research line. This laboratory is concerned with the various technologies that enable advanced forms of interaction (such as virtual and augmented reality, scanning of three-dimensional objects, and Video Analytics technology) and their applications in the productive sector.

Research into the production and reception of images and visual representations in their relation to design as a field and as a project. The research project covers a broad field of images and visual representations: drawing, photography, visual communication, plastic arts, cartographies and infographics. The relationship with design practice is the common element, as is the possibility of analysis through the fields of knowledge that characterise the Design and Anthropology Laboratory (LaDA) research group: design, anthropology, social and political sciences.

The project aims to create a platform for the development of collaborative design methodologies that can foster active citizenship through partnerships with different people, institutions and forms of organisation. In this sense, it investigates how different forms of citizen participation are evoked through these methodologies in different social contexts and urban territories, seeking to develop and consolidate design experiments to foster democratic processes based on new forms of citizen participation.

This project aims to identify historical indicators of the formation of social networks from the perspective of the design of the devices involved. To this end, it seeks to trace lines of continuity between traditional means of communication - such as the handwritten letter, the newspaper, television, the telegraph, and others - and contemporary channels for disseminating messages on social media. The pervasiveness of these channels in today's culture prompts, in addition to a historiography, an in-depth critical analysis of the design of these interactive media, considering their role in capturing attention, their establishment as a means of disseminating news and modelling interpersonal relationships in a public-private sphere.

The research project investigates the process and effect of new moving image technologies and their interfaces in both socio-historical and aesthetic terms. The transformations of the media are understood, especially since the video event, and their effects on the production of meaning. It also seeks to understand phenomena in the field of visual communication that imply relationships of interactivity.

Focussing on the theme of the occupation of the Barão do Rio Branco House as the headquarters of the Department of Architecture and Urbanism, the students carried out historical and technical research by searching databases, historical archives and interviews with important people responsible for this. The department's campus is located in the city of Petrópolis, currently at Avenida Ipiranga, 544. However, until 2016 it occupied the listed building on Avenida Barão do Rio Branco, named in honour of the famous name in 20th century Brazilian politics, in his former home. Unfortunately, after the Institution bought the site and set up the department that until then belonged to the School of Industrial Design, the space was banned by Petrópolis City Hall and declared inhospitable due to its high level of degradation and unsuitable occupation. In view of this scenario, its current headquarters were rented for the continuation of academic activities. In addition to these factors, a need was identified for an in-depth study of the residence and a better understanding of its former residents, listing processes, purchase, sale and other documentation in the political, economic and historical spheres. In this way, such research could make possible a future intervention to adapt an annex to the institution, such as a postgraduate course and other activities in the space, increasing the quality of teaching given the current lack of space suffered by teachers and students, as well as valuing the heritage, restoration and proper conservation of the building that suffers from arduous government neglect.

For more information visit: https://uerj-arq20181.wixsite.com/witeebs or follow us on Instagram: @divulga.uerj

O PPDESDI divulga chamada para seleção de novos docentes e o resultado final.