Exploring and enhancing the home experience (original) (raw)

Interactive systems in domestic environments

1997

This paper considers the nature of interactive systems design for domestic environments. As part of this work it highlights @e methodological issues faced in the design of systems for the home. The shortage of detailed knowledge of activities in the home is highlighted. A series of studies of domestic environments is presented alongside the design challenges they raise.

Designing creative tools: A user-centered approach to ambient home design

2011

This paper discusses some key findings on user perception of an ambient home design application concept, which combines features of social media, Augmented Reality (AR) and 3D modeling. The two target groups chosen for this study were consumers looking for a new home and pro-users, who have professional or other special interest in decoration or renovation of apartments. In total there were 241 respondents for the scenario-based survey. It appears that there is a demand for easy-to-use design tools for consumers looking for a new apartment and also for professional users.

Personalising the Home

smib.vuw.ac.nz

Australasian consumers, public policy makers, and media are perennially concerned with the ownership of the ultimate consumption durable, the home. Not only is the home generally the single largest purchase that most consumers make in their lifetimes, personalising a ...

User interface for an in-home environment

This paper describes the development of novel user interface concepts for an in-home environment. If interaction devices at various places in a house are interconnected through an in-home network, people are no longer restricted to a location where a device with a particular functionality is located. Instead, they are even able to start an activity (such as watching a movie or making a videophone call) in one room and continue it in another room of the house. Two user interface concepts are described that enable this relocation of activities. In addition, a user interface is described for local activity handling, such as beginning and ending activities and switching between activities. We followed an iterative and user-centered approach with several evaluations during the process. A fully working in-home network was implemented and evaluated with both UI experts and potential end-users. Keywords User interface concepts, in-home digital network, tangible user interface, physical icon...

User requirements for intelligent home environments

Proceedings of the 2005 joint conference on Smart objects and ambient intelligence innovative context-aware services: usages and technologies - sOc-EUSAI '05, 2005

This paper presents the results of an empirical cross-cultural study conducted at six different sites in five European countries in the context of the EU IST-IP project Amigo, Ambient Intelligence for the Networked Home Environment [1]. The study employed a scenario-driven approach and used quantitative and qualitative methods to elicit feedback from the target user population on concepts for intelligent home environments. The results are clustered and transformed in prioritized design guidelines.

Between the dazzle of a new building and its eventual corpse: assembling the ubiquitous home

2004

This paper presents the development of a lightweight component model that allows user to manage the introduction and arrangement of new interactive services and devices in the home. The model is responsive to ethnographic studies of the interplay between the Spaceplan or interior layout and Stuff or artefacts placed within the fabric of the home. Interaction techniques developed through user-participation enable household membersrather than designers-to configure and reconfigure interactive devices and services to meet local needs. As a result, we have developed a tablet-based editor that discovers available ubiquitous components and presents these to users as 'jigsaw pieces' that can be dynamically assembled and recombined.

Designing with users for domestic environments

Proceedings of the companion publication of the 17th ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work & social computing - CSCW Companion '14, 2014

When developing new ICT systems and applications for domestic environments, rich qualitative approaches improve the understanding of the user's integral usage of technology in their daily routines and thereby inform design. This knowledge will often be reached through in-home studies, strong relationships with the users and their involvement in the design and evaluation process. However, whilst this kind of research offers valuable context insights and brings out unexpected findings, it also presents methodological, technical and organizational challenges for the study design and its underlying cooperation processes. In particular, due to heterogeneous users in households in terms of technology affinity, individual needs, age distribution, gender, social constellations, personal role assignment, project expectations, etc. it produces particular demands to collaborate with users in the design process and thereby exposes a range of practical challenges. The full-day workshop wishes to identify these practical challenges, discuss best practice and develop a roadmap for sustainable relationships for design with users.

When technology enters the home – a systematic and integrative review examining the influence of technology on the meaning of home

Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences

When technology enters the homea systematic and integrative review examining the influence of technology on the meaning of home Aim: To analyse and synthesise the research that has investigated the experience of home in relation to home mechanical ventilation (HMV). Method: Systematic integrative review. Four electronic databases (CINAHL, PubMed, Scopus and ISI Web of Knowledge) were searched between January 2010 and April 2017 as well as reference lists of included studies. Quantitative and qualitative studies meeting the inclusion criteria were critically appraised. Study findings were inductively analysed and synthesised using the integrative approach. Results: Twenty-one studies were included in the review. Two main themes emerged: home and at-homeness and altered interpersonal relationships. The literature suggests that the technology alters the meaning of home through its structural and conceptual reconfiguration. Paradoxically, the space is experienced as both a home and a workplace which creates tensions and ambiguities for HMV users/families and care workers. HMV users and their families attempt to recreate a sense of home and identity while gaining control over space and decisionmaking. Nevertheless, the home is seen as the preferred place to live and close bonds can develop between the different actors. Conclusions: The literature suggests that the transformation of the meaning of home by the presence of technology and workers poses challenges that are often under-recognised. Healthcare professionals and personal care assistants need preparation for the complexities of working in the home setting in addition to clinical aspects of caregiving. Home adaptations need to be carefully planned and include design principles that retain 'at-homeness' while enabling the creation of a safe workplace.

Experimenting new design languages in contemporary home design

Work (Reading, Mass.), 2012

The changes in society at the beginning of this millennium are giving rise to deep transformations in the behavioural trends and tastes of home users, as well as in their lifestyles and consumption patterns. This opens up a wide range of opportunities for innovation within the context of contemporary home design. Due to the emergence of new user profiles, new needs and models are coming to the attention of designers and manufacturing companies. Just think about the new needs resulting from the changing composition of households, new forms of cohabitation and the contemporary multi-ethnic society.