smart trio – domestic ambient technology
July 26, 2011 Leave a comment
Moving on from my final year project ec@h, I want to explore some other forms of data representation but not in static boring graphs, meaningless text messages and the like but to explore how ambient technology can actually become apart of a home’s interior. This is something which I wanted to do for my FYP but the end result of the physical object didn’t come out as I had hoped (due to resource & time restrictions). Now I have left university I would love to take the idea further and make some really cool but meaningful objects that act as more than just communication channels, but also as decorative and even theraputic objects.
The problem I mentioned with most new technological revelations and innovations is their apparent short life span. Smart meter interfaces get chucked out because the average homeowner has no idea how to use it, how to interpret it and where to put it – they aren’t exactly attractive items. This short life span and over complicated interface is the result of not looking at what home owners really care about. My dissertation highlighted anthropological, cultural and social aspects in the domestic space which these technical revelations still fail to address. They claim to be user centric in design but in practice they couldn’t be anymore further from it. Why is communication limited to numbers and figures, yes we understand what they mean, but outside of that they have no relation to the home as a space.
My idea stems from ambient orb technologies which there are thousands of. But to also consider the object form in more detail and as a more integral part to data communication. Using the functionality and semiotics of an object to contextualise very simple events I feel would be a great route to explore for changing how people see energy data and how they react on it.
Let me give you a quick example of what I mean, imagine a water fountain that had a variable speed pump. Now that pump changes the water flow rate depending on how efficient that homeowner uses their actual water around the house. Combine this with a simple message to a technology platform that is becoming a culturally embedded object and we have understanding and knowledge at a user level, but also more importantly, the system is accepted because the user likes it and is comfortable with it. We can’t expect machines to do everything for us, this is what separates my ideas from the many. Most solutions are leaning towards pure automation where everything is pretty much done for the user ubiquitously. By stripping away simple tasks such as switching lights off when leaving a room, turning taps fully off etc over generations to come our knowledge of how to address inefficiencies will slowly whittle away and when they technology fails we will be in trouble. My stance is that technology should take the path of helping people take the right actions and let them do it and teach future generations how to carry on doing it. Technology should be an aid and not a solution.
What I propose is a messaging framework where central data is allocated and plug-and-play decorative but smart devices can integrate with ease and start working (with low energy consumption ofc). At the heart of all these ideas is the idea on how to alert people in ways they can adapt to save energy and change their perception on their individual impact on the environment. Changing the culture behind energy consumption is key to creating a sense of urgency and helping users take the necessary actions to truly combat climate change. I also believe that by empowering people and not machines to be the root of these changes would allow it to be embraced to the en masse.
At the moment I have this idea for a trio of ambient devices each taking the form of the data they are representing.
Smart trio:
Water fountain – variable flow rates to represent the house’ water consumption (theraputic)
Plasma ball – colour changes indicative of the home’ energy consumption (also can be touched/played with)
LED candle – flicker speed and colour indicative of house’ heat
Name: Nick Marshall
Nick Marshall 
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