O R I G I N A L A R T I C L E
Future home design: an emotional communication channel
approach to smart space
Yu-Chun Huang• Kuan-Ying Wu•Yu-Tung Liu
Received: 29 November 2011 / Accepted: 17 December 2012 / Published online: 7 February 2013 Springer-Verlag London 2013
Abstract Smart spaces use human–computer interfaces (HCIs) to improve how humans experience their sur-roundings. However, HCIs are sometimes less user-friendly and intuitive than their traditional counterparts. Our research aims to use every-day objects to create commu-nication channels between spaces and people, which can then strengthen interpersonal emotional relationships through a natural and unobtrusive interface. This study explores how using simpler instruments such as a whiskey glass, a table, and an MP3 player to interact with a dwelling improves user experience in a HCI-equipped smart space. We implemented a real smart space—the Time Home Pub, which not only adjusts the environmental atmosphere (such as background lighting, music, and photos) in response to human activities but also encourages a better connection between humans, their memories, and physical space. Time Home Pub was exhibited at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum in 2007 for the topic of Architecture of Tomorrow. Pre-liminary evaluations by visitors demonstrate the satisfac-tory feasibility of the system and how a smart space could
change and improve human experiences through the use of new technology and architectural design elements.
Keywords Human–computer interface Smart space Ubiquitous computing
1 Introduction
1.1 From architecture to smart space
Prior to the twentieth century, designers focused mostly on architectural form and space layout. With the development of computational technology in the twentieth century, new media has played an important role in architectural design. In 1963, Sutherland [1] created the first computer graphics program, ‘‘Sketchpad,’’ which revolutionized the way people manipulate the design process. The appearance of Computer-Aided Design/Computer-Aided Manufactured (CAD/CAM) technology has profoundly influenced archi-tectural design [2–4] because digital construction is extre-mely different than traditional architecture. For example, the various kinds of CAD/CAM devices allow for com-puter-controlled cutting, routing, milling, and bending. These designs can then be automatically converted from digital models into full-size architectural components such as Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.6 [5].
At the same time, computer technology has become ever present and widely integrated into our ambient environ-ment, a phenomenon described by the term ‘‘ubiquitous computing’’ [6]. In order to create a new lifestyle for human beings, the new term ‘‘smart space’’ has emerged in space design. In 1980, the ‘‘Smart House’’ project proposed a home automation idea and applied a specific set of technology into a real house [7]. ‘‘The Aware Home’’ Electronic supplementary material The online version of this
article (doi:10.1007/s00779-012-0635-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Y.-C. Huang (&) K.-Y. Wu Y.-T. Liu
Graduate Institute of Architecture, National Chiao Tung University, 1001 Ta Hsueh Road, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan e-mail: Oreo@arch.nctu.edu.tw K.-Y. Wu e-mail: Rainage@arch.nctu.edu.tw Y.-T. Liu e-mail: Aleppo@arch.nctu.edu.tw Y.-T. Liu
Asia University, 500, Lioufeng Rd., Wufeng, Taichung 41354, Taiwan
project has built a living laboratory for research in ubiq-uitous computing for daily activities [8]. ‘‘Augmented Reality Kitchen’’ has applied augmented reality (AR) technology and user-centered interface to create a more efficient and safe kitchen to support the activities of a variety of people in diverse kitchen environments [9].
1.2 Smart space
Smart spaces aim to improve the interface between humans and physical space in order to provide a better life to the space’s inhabitants. Some have suggested a smart space that responds to the dweller’s needs and desires by adjusting lighting, temperature, and even ambient music, as described in the science fiction of the twentieth century [7]. However, in order to provide a safer, more comfortable, and more economical space, some researchers are incor-porating new technology into interface design by using the smart space to bring computation into the real, physical world. Computers directly participate in activities that allow people to interact with computational systems the way they would with other people: via gesture, face detection, voice, movement, and context [10,11].
Meanwhile, in order to allow for more natural interac-tion with smart spaces, some researchers have tried to explore a more intuitive and natural interaction between humans and space, such as brain–computer interface (BCI) [12, 13]. For example, ‘‘The Smart Floor System’’ was developed to identify users through the rhythm and pattern of the footsteps they take during their everyday routines [14]. For more intuitive control of lighting, air condition-ing, and the environment, Huang [15] applied bio-signal interface to a smart space that could make people work more efficiently by adjusting background lighting through BCI. In order to enable people to work in an energized way, the environment can give appropriate feedback by monitoring their brainwaves. In parallel, the study of emotional communication between humans and machines has appeared in our lives with the development of tech-nology [16]. One such emotional communication device, ‘‘LumiTouch,’’ can seamlessly transition between passive and active modes [17]. Since the increase technology is reducing communication between people, Kim et al. [18] developed four prototypes such as ‘‘Home media pond’’ to enhance the family communication by using digital technologies.
The new HCI technology has not been as easy to use as traditional interfaces, so some researchers have focused on the issue of human-friendly interfaces [19,20]. Take ges-ture recognition, for example. In order for a signal to be successfully recognized, we may have to try different gestures to find the one that is easiest to detect. Thus, some researchers have used alternative technologies, to change
the way people interact with objects in daily life [21]. People need not only a space that is more convenient and comfortable, but also an interesting and emotionally engaging one. Thus, Ishii and Ullmer [22] tried to explore Weiser’s transparency in interfaces by developing a bottle filled with music: classical, jazz, and techno music. Phys-ical manipulation by opening and closing is the primary mode of interaction. This provides a new way to interact with music without players or instruments. There are also many other interesting products that enable users to interact with their environments in novel ways. The project ‘‘I/O brush’’ explored the idea of ‘‘The World as your Palette’’ which developed drawing tools to allow people to create visual art with elements (specifically, the color, texture, and moving patterns) extracted directly from their personal objects and their immediate environment [23]. Schoch [24] used ‘‘pervasive computing’’ as the main concept to prac-tice the idea of sustainable architecture in a real building. However, researchers have sometimes overused HCI devices and forgotten the essence of smart space—creating a safe, comfortable, and economical space for humans [15].
1.3 Interactive table
Recently, some researchers have tried not only to put HCI devices into a real space, but also to let people interact naturally with the space [15]. By analyzing how people interact with the space they live in through daily activities such as drinking a cup of coffee, watching TV, eating at the dining table, drawing, or writing at a desk, the designer tries to combine HCI technologies into objects which are related to the users’ daily lives. The project of ‘‘digital architecture of tomorrow’’ used certain cognition-driven terms, such as ‘smart’ and ‘intelligent’, to describe the interactive and built-in programming nature of these everyday objects. They introduced a new architectural composite material, digital wallpaper, as a new design component [25]. Nakajima et al. [26] suggests that our daily lives will be more attractive when our surroundings become more intelligent. He thinks that when many ser-vices become embedded in our surroundings, we will begin to change the way we live. Alternatively, we may suggest that almost every daily event happens on tables, and that we perhaps could not live in a space without tables, including dining tables, meeting desks, and bar counters. Jorda et al. [27] designed an electro-acoustic music instrument called reacTable*, which supports a flexible number of users and allows simultaneously additive (users working on independent audio threads) as well as multi-plicative (users sharing control of audio threads) behaviors. Additionally, the project iBar [28] created a specific bar counter that detects all objects touching the surface by using an intelligent tracking system. The input is used to let
the projected content interact dynamically with the move-ments on the counter. This system improves a consumer’s experience of drinking or chatting around the bar counter. The bar counter showed the social relationships of people using the device which then facilitated social interactions between users. Furthermore, Patten et al. [29] created an audio electronic music controller on a tabletop tangible interface. This system is able to track the positions of objects on a tabletop surface and translate their motions into commands for a musical synthesizer. These kinds of HCI combination systems augment the function of tables and put more fun in life.
2 Problem and objective
Motion sensors, voice control, eye-tracking, and facial recognition devices were designed to improve the ease of using HCIs. Recently, in order to allow for more intuitive and natural interaction with space, Huang [15] has created a smart space that can respond to the user’s mental state by adjusting the environment, through lighting, temperature, and music by monitoring the user’s brainwaves. In addi-tion, many researchers have tried to incorporate new technology into daily life. The introduction and rapid acceptance of digital cameras have fundamentally changed the way people take and share images [30]. Thus, the development of digital photo frames has transformed the traditional photo frame into a new style that enables users to change the photo display on a whim. Mynatt et al. [31] created a system of digital family portraits that was used to leverage existing emotional connections and the role those portraits already played in decorating a household space. Some researchers think that designing for digital photos to be dynamically distributed in the home environment allows for co-experience among family members, continuing their storytelling without the time delay of traditional, static photo displays [30]. Nevertheless, the limitation of the photo frame is that it only has one-way communication (display), with few connections to the environment.
As for the interactive table, iBar counter has created an innovative form of communication between people [31], but with only a single interaction between a glass and the interactive table, the system has difficulty recognizing individual users. The reacTable enables users to naturally control music by moving an object [24]. However, the controller is a specific pattern-attached object, and it would be better if that object could be a common one used in daily life. Most importantly, we can see that most systems only have a single interaction between the user and individual device. Furthermore, few of these projects focus on inte-grating the whole system into a space. Therefore, the goal of this research is to demonstrate a system prototype of
smart space in a real living room that is able to solidify the links between people and between spaces by using HCI technologies.
In order to create a smart space which can provide adequate feedback and also strengthen the relationships between interacting people, we designed a futuristic space called the ‘‘Time Home Pub.’’ This smart space embeds different interactive devices, alternating between three modes (normal mode, bar mode, and music mode) to sat-isfy the emotional demands of the person staying in the smart space. Thus, an interactive table was used as the main component of the smart space. Three other devices in the space include a whiskey glass, a Liveframe (a digital photo frame which can be connected with interactive table and whiskey glass and will be described in Sect.4.4.2), and an environmental atmosphere control. When a user moves the whiskey glass on the table, time-marks graphics that denote positional information of previous users at the table and the visual display on the table’s surface will interact with the three other space components: visual interaction in the photo frame, acoustic interaction in the background music instrument, and animated interaction on the wall. Therefore, the interactions from the three components will, in turn, re-interact with the person’s vision, emotion, and memory.
3 Methodology and steps
We implemented a future smart home that can naturally interact with the environment and apply HCI technology into a real space, as in previous research [9,15,26,28–30,
32–35]. The difference between this work and previous research is that our system has specific emotional com-munication channels between both ‘‘human and human’’ and ‘‘human and space’’ interactions. It also shortens the distance and blurs the boundary between people and space. The methodological steps of this research are as follows:
3.1 Analysis of HCI in smart space
HCI technology is defined as ‘‘a post-desktop model of Human–Computer Interface’’ in which information pro-cessing has been thoroughly integrated into everyday objects and activities [6]. Home automation has increased, but no HCI system has been adopted in everyday life yet, even though the visions for it have been around for several years [36]. In addition, much of the smart home research has focused on novel technical artifacts, but has overlooked the issues surrounding social relationships in the home [37]. Therefore, how to appropriately arrange HCI into smart space has become more important than just adding a
novel or fancy interface into smart space. The challenges lie in identifying which daily objects to adapt and orga-nizing a smart space around them. This research will also discuss the essential differences between traditional archi-tecture and smart spaces that use HCI.
3.2 Scenario demonstration
In order to apply the Time Home Pub system into a real space, we created a scenario to demonstrate the system process (Fig.1). The scenario is divided into three parts. First, by putting the whiskey glass on the interactive table, time-marks will emerge on the table. Second, moving the whiskey glass to a previous user’s (e.g. Sasada’s), time-mark will activate the Liveframe to show Sasada’s photos. Third, moving the whiskey glass onto the music hot spot will initiate music to play.
3.3 System concept
To illustrate how the system works, we separate the system concept into three modes: normal mode, bar mode, and music mode. In this part, we explain the main concept of the system and how different modes can be represented in a cycle.
3.4 System framework
The system framework is composed of three main com-ponents: first, the interactive table and whiskey glass; second, the time-mark and Liveframe; third, the environ-mental atmosphere control and music hot spot.
4 Results
4.1 The analysis of HCI in smart space
First, this work explores a new vision of a smart space which not only improves comfort and convenience but also solidifies the relationships between family and friends by using HCI technologies. Thus, we consider HCI to be an important media which redefines traditional architecture into a new lifestyle space. We start from an architectural view to discuss what kind of architectural elements the space is composed of. How do we embed HCI into archi-tectural elements to create a better smart space? This analysis of HCI in a smart space is separated into three parts:
First, the wall, ambient lighting, and music are the important elements composing the ambient atmosphere. By adding adjustable ambient atmosphere (HCI elements), the physical home environment (architecture) is able to trans-form itself into an adjustable scene (smart space) by accommodating users’ behaviors. Second, since the table as an important medium in the space, it creates various interactions between people. This embedded interactive table (HCI element) transforms the space (architecture) into a memorized space (smart space) that is able to record human activities. Third, since photographs are important memory elements in our living spaces, they can create an emotional connection between people. Therefore, by add-ing Liveframe (HCI element), a daily object such as a photo frame (architecture) is transformed into a new style of digital photo frame (smart space) which is able to make connections between memory and emotion. Therefore, the systems of this research were separated into three parts, as indicated in Table1.
4.1.1 Physical space enhancement (sofa, table, wall)
The design of HCI elements is combined into physical elements, such as sofas, tables, or lighting, and feedback is given according to human emotions. For example, by adding HCI sensor device (e.g. magnet switch sensor) to the table, it will become an interactive table that is able to track the glass’s position and connect to the ambient atmosphere to adjust the space scene according to a user’s activities.
4.1.2 Records of human activities and events (moving the whiskey glass)
The interactive table records which of your friends have previously been to the space and presents time-marks with individualized styles. This means that the space can memorize events which have occurred in the room. This Fig. 1 Interactive steps
adds some measure of artificial intelligence to the space, making it closer to human beings.
4.1.3 The connection between vision, feeling, and memories (Liveframe)
As indicated above, the interactive table can record which people have come to the space before. Liveframe is also connected with the interactive table. Through this system, time-marks trigger memories associated with photos (Fig.2). This process is able to solidify the connection between vision, feeling, and memories.
4.2 System concept
In order to allow people to interact with a space more naturally, the space senses the changing events and activ-ities by adjusting the background lighting pattern to pro-vide a suitable ambience. The ‘‘Time Home Pub’’ we have created is able to adjust the environmental atmosphere naturally according to human activities. We used the
whiskey glass as an atmospheric control switch and installed the control into a real living room. This system consists of three main devices: the interactive table, a whiskey glass, and Liveframe (see Fig.3).
In order to create a space that can adequately provide dwellers with feedback and satisfy their daily needs, we provide three modes in the system: normal mode, bar mode, and music mode (see Fig.4). The modes are able to interchange according to human behaviors.
4.2.1 Normal mode
This mode presents a traditional and general living room with nothing different from an ordinary space. The photo frame serves as the traditional frame, which displays a static family photo (see Fig.4-normal mode).
4.2.2 Bar mode
The environment changes to bar mode when the user puts the whiskey glass on the interactive table. The environ-mental wallpaper also changes to animated patterns at the same time, with the time-marks gradually emerging from the table. When the user moves the whiskey glass onto someone’s time-mark, Liveframe is triggered and related photos are shown (see Fig.4-bar mode).
4.2.3 Music mode
When the whiskey glass is moved onto a music mark on the table, music gradually begins to play. Furthermore, the pattern flow on the interactive table will follow the musical melody (see Fig.4-music mode).
Fig. 2 Pictures and events trigger memories
Table 1 The media of HCI between architecture and smart space Architecture space HCI design Smart space
Life style Physical home environment
(sofa, table, wall)
Adjustable ambient atmosphere
Environment adjusted by human’s emotion
When the user puts the whiskey glass onto the table, and the space transforms into bar mode. The lighting becomes darker and patterns emerge on the wall If the user moves the whiskey glass onto the music hot spot, then environmental
music gradually appears A space for human activities and events
(moving the whiskey glass)
Interactive table Memorized space records human activities
As time goes by, the time-marks, which are shown in different colors and patterns, stand for individual people and the frequency of visiting times are displayed on the table surface
Photo frame and whiskey glass Liveframe Tranquil communication between vision and mind
Since the user moves the glass onto Sasada’s time-mark, the Liveframe searches the database and shows Sasada’s photos on the digital frame. This can trigger the user’s memories through visual stimuli
4.3 Scenario
Sean has just finished work and returns home at midnight. To take a break, he lies down on the sofa, takes out a bottle of Islay Island Whiskey, and puts a whiskey glass on the table. The space senses Sean’s glass on the table and changes to bar mode. The environmental lighting slowly becomes darker, and the wallpaper switches to an animated pattern. A tracking mark is illuminated around the whiskey glass (Fig.5b). Simultaneously, time-marks emerge on the table to stand for Sean’s friends and family who visited the space in the past few years (Fig.5c). Different patterns and opacities on the time-marks represent the time flow. The more time has passed since one of Sean’s friends has been to the place, the dimmer the time-mark appears. While enjoying his single malt whiskey, Sean unexpectedly cat-ches sight of Sasada’s time-mark pulsing on the table (Fig.5d). Sasada is one of his best Japanese friends, and he realizes that they have been apart for a long time.
Therefore, Sean moves the glass onto Sasada’s time-mark, and the Liveframe presents the photos in slides (Fig.5e). Thus, the photos trigger recall of memories with Sasada. Sean then wants to listen to music, so he moves the whiskey glass onto the music hot spot. The place gradually becomes filled with Sean’s favorite music. (Please see the scenario demonstration video—Online Resource 1 [39].
4.4 Implementation
The Time Home Pub system consists of four main com-ponents, as shown in Fig.6: the interactive table, a whiskey glass, Liveframe, and the environmental atmosphere con-trol. The interactive table is composed of an array of LED chips and a magnetic switch array. The table is covered with white acrylic and is connected with the main server computer (PC 1). Once the interactive table detects a whiskey glass on the interactive table, the server (PC 1) connected with projector 01 displays the time-marks on the Fig. 3 System concept
surface of the interactive table. At the same time, through the networking system, the server sends a signal to PC 3, another computer which is connected with projector 02, and displays different wallpaper on the wall. In addition, PC 1 also sends a signal to PC 2 to control the Liveframe. Basically, the interactive table is controlled by PC 1 and is the main control server of the Time Home Pub system.
4.4.1 Interactive table and whiskey glass
The interactive table is the main control center of the whole system and is connected with PC 1. The interactive table has two layers (see Fig.8). The first layer is composed of
an LED chip array and can show the glass tracking mark; the second layer is designed to recognize the position of the whiskey glass.
The first layer: LED chip array
In order to show the tracking mark for the whiskey glass, we put the LED chip array (Fig.7c) on the first layer. To be more colorful, this interactive table is composed of three different colors of LED chips: pink, blue, and white. A total of 8192 LED chips (64 9 128) were planted on the second layer and divided into 32 units. Each unit consists of 16 9 16 LED chips. Each row has 8 units and is manipulated by a controller board (Fig. 7a) to which PC 1 can send signals. To enable the interactive table to render a Fig. 5 Scenario demonstration: a normal mode; b the whiskey glass
was put onto table, and the tracking mark lights up to follow the glass; csimultaneously, time-marks emerge; d user moves the whiskey glass
onto ‘‘Sasada’s’’ time-mark; e the Liveframe displays a slideshow of photos related to Sasada and the user; f the whiskey glass is moved onto ‘‘Mary’s’’ time-mark, and the Liveframe shows related photos
tracking mark from the back of the surface, we put a sheet of white, three-millimeter-thick rectangular acrylic above the LED chip array. This kind of acrylic is translucent and shows a diffuse glow on the surface of the interactive table (Fig.7d) only when LED chips are very close to it (see middle of Fig.8).
The second layer: magnet switch array
The magnet switch array is put in the second layer, under the LED chip array, to detect whether the whiskey glass is on the interactive table and assess its position. This magnet switch array (Fig.7b) can recognize the position of the whiskey glass by sensing the strong magnet at the bottom of the glass. When the whiskey glass is moved, the magnet will switch on each of the magnet switch arrays, sending a signal to PC 1 through the RS232 serial interface to give the position of the whiskey glass. Eventually, PC 1 sends a signal to the controller board (Fig.7a), which will switch on the LED for the glass tracking mark (see Fig.8right). The glass tracking mark thus follows the whiskey glass.
4.4.2 Time-mark and Liveframe
Time-marks (see Figs.3, 6) represent people and are recorded when they come to the place by specific RFID tag. For example, when a user comes to the space, the interactive
table records the event by randomly stamping a time-mark on the table with an individual pattern. These time-mark patterns are projected through projector 01, which is con-trolled by the server. As time passes, the user’s time-mark becomes fainter if he/she does not come back, which means that the user and the guest may be out of touch for a long time. Therefore, through the changes in the time-mark, one may be reminded to keep in touch with friends and family. Liveframe is a digital frame, connected with PC 2, that can display photo slideshows or present static photos (see Fig.6). The functions of the Liveframe include a photo browser (Fig.9left-b), drawing program (Fig.9right), and webcam. In the normal mode, users can browse photos by touching the screen directly. They can also draw or sketch on the Liveframe with their fingers (see Fig.9 right). However, when the environment is changed to the bar mode, the Liveframe is controlled by the user’s behavior. For instance, if the user moves the whiskey glass to each of the time-marks, he may be thinking of someone, so the person’s photos are displayed in the Liveframe. PC 1 (server) senses the position of the whiskey glass and sends a signal to control PC 2 and trigger the Liveframe to dis-play relevant photos. Although the user cannot meet his friends or family members immediately, he can reminisce about them through the photos on the Liveframe.
Fig. 7 Interactive table components
Fig. 8 Section of interactive table
4.4.3 Environmental atmosphere control and music hot spot
PC 3 cooperates with the environmental control, which includes lighting adjustment, wallpaper, and ambient music. In the normal mode, the environment is in its general state. When the user puts the whiskey glass on the inter-active table, the environmental atmosphere will change into the bar mode. When the interactive table receives the commands, it sends a signal to PC 1, which then notifies PC 3 to change the environmental atmosphere. Simultaneously, the animated wallpaper (see Fig.10a) will be projected onto the wall by PC 3 (see Fig.4-bar mode). As the user drags the whiskey glass to the music hot spot, the music mode is switched on, and the space is filled with the user’s favorite music. At the same time, the rhythm of the music is dis-played on the interactive table (Fig.4-music mode).
5 Evaluation
Time Home Pub is the practical realization of an imagined future smart home. As to the user’s experience, this HCI embedded smart home enables people to experience the space which provides a natural connection between users, events, and time through daily use instruments. Time Home Pub is a preliminary prototype for future homes. And
empirical evaluations will be based on visitors’ opinions during the exhibition—Architecture of Tomorrow (see Fig.11a). Also, the observations and interviews of visitors can efficiently evaluate the system concept, and test if this system adapts to real life.
5.1 User experience evaluation
In this section, two methods were used for the research: First, we collected observations about user experiences by noting their non-verbal expressions since some experiences are difficult to articulate. Second, we analyzed visitors’ feedback and questions during the exhibition. Both meth-ods can be analyzed from the user experiences of visitors’ point of view, for example: How well did visitors become accustomed to this new environment? Furthermore, what did they think about the smart home? Was it fun? Non-intuitive? Or did they find it difficult to control?
5.2 Test scenario
The users’ experiences of these features were evaluated with the following predefined scenario as was mentioned in the part 4.3.
• The user is asked to sit on the sofa.
• The user puts the whiskey glass onto the tea table, and simultaneously the time-marks emerge, which causes Fig. 9 Liveframe (left
Liveframe diagram; right drawing demonstration)
Fig. 10 Environmental atmosphere of bar mode. Left aanimated wallpaper; binteractive table; c Liveframe; right system demonstration
the user to remember the friends and family that have previously used the table.
• The user then moves the glass onto each of the time-marks that represent his/her close friends or families. Liveframe then shows related photos in slides to trigger user’s memories.
• Then the user moves the whiskey glass onto the music hot spot.
This scenario was created to test the whole system of Time Home Pub. It also allows us to evaluate user expe-rience in the smart home. Although the user expeexpe-rience of Time Home Pub is slightly different compared to a tradi-tional home, through the test scenario, we can observe if visitors adapt to a new environment without practice, and also if this smart home has a better communication channel than conventional home design.
5.3 Test methods and analysis
5.3.1 Test methods
Since Time Home Pub is a preliminary prototype, and this project was invited for exhibition in the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, the evaluation is based on the interviews and observations made during its 2 months of exhibition in 2007. The space of exhibition was a living room-like smart home. It had an open space and only two opposing walls, so visitors could enter the exhibition from different directions. There was a small instruction booklet of ‘‘Time Home Pub’’ attached on the side of a wall. However, sometimes visitors were not aware of the instructions and tried their own ways to experience the smart home. Thus, the analysis of the evaluation is divided into two parts (see Table2): First, the visitors who followed the instructions to test the environ-ment and second, the visitors who manipulated the envi-ronment without the aide of instructions. After experiencing the smart house, visitors were asked to talk about their opinions or pose questions about the system.
5.3.2 Analysis
For analysis, the interviews of visitors about their experi-ences can be separated into three kinds of issues (see Table1):
5.3.2.1 Vision Most visitors were interested in this future home design. Through this test process, they could imagine future life and felt it inspired about their current lives. For example, some visitors expressed, ‘‘I won’t feel lonely when I drink whiskey. My home can be changed into a bar. It is so cool!’’; some visitors may ask ‘‘Will Time Home Pub come true in the future? Or is it already a commercial product? Can I apply it to my home? How much does it cost?’’ Compared to the visitors who did not read the instructions, visitors who did easily adapted to the scenario and asked further questions about feasibility. Therefore, the above questions implied that they really appreciated this project and also demonstrated that this project would work well if integrated into their daily lives.
5.3.2.2 Function In terms of functionality, some visitors embraced the idea of Time Home Pub quickly and found it easy to work with. Visitors also thought this smart home created a new vision of the future home, not only providing an emotional channel for space, but also enhancing the functions of elements. For example (Fig. 11b), Toyo Ito said: ‘‘Oh! That’s such a great design if I can drink with my old friend virtually…’’ On the other hand, with the development of computational technology, people are more and more used to or even rely on constant digital infor-mation and technologies. Pertaining to this, some visitors asked questions such as, ‘‘Can this system be applied to multi-users?’’ or ‘‘Why are there only three modes? Can I set other modes?’’ In the future, our system can be modi-fied through new generations of technology. In addition, some visitors asked: ‘‘Could the equipment, whiskey glass, be substituted with normal mugs or specific glass is required to interact with the space?’’ This project uses Fig. 11 aVisitors are
experiencing bar mode and music mode by moving a whiskey glass on the table; bJapanese architect ‘Toyo Ito’ visiting the exhibition. He highly complimented the future home concept!
custom-made glasses to interact with the space. However, the glasses could be substituted with the alternative tech-nology such as pattern recognition [38] to recognize the different users and a variety of glasses.
5.3.2.3 Others Environmental protection issues were also raised by some visitors. The smart home may seem energy consuming since three computers and two projec-tors were used; however, this system is a preliminary prototype and can be improved by substitute technology. Some visitors were, furthermore, concerned about the cost of the construction and equipment of such a space. Nev-ertheless, these issues could be resolved after Time Home Pub becomes a popular commercial product.
In observations and interviews (see Table1), the users generally provided more positive opinions than negative ones. Moreover, most visitors embraced experiencing Time Home Pub, especially the connection between time-marks (history), friends (human), and old photos (memories), which has never been realized in traditional architecture. Also visitors thought that it would be great if the space
could create a better communication channel between space and user. These results demonstrate how space can serve as an important emotional communication interface to strengthen the relationship between dwellers.
6 Concluding remarks
With the emergence of computer technology, architecture design has been advanced to the next generation. This involves not only changes in building appearance but also new technology in the form of HCI software embedded into space design. Since people prefer to live different lifestyles, the design of a smart space has attracted great attention. Most new interfaces between human and space are difficult to use and need to be improved in order to enhance the experience of the dwellers. Further, some projects focus on creating a novel or complicated interface between user and devices but ignore the relationship between humans and the living environment. For exam-ples, iBar counter has created an innovative form of Table 2 Study of Time Home Pub user experience during 2 months of exhibition in Taipei Fine Arts Museum
Visitors’ experiences
Observation Interviews by visitors
Reading instructions
The illuminating tracking mark is following the whiskey glass when moving the glass; can I change tracking mark patterns or colors? Whiskey glass can be connected with the ambient
environment, but this whiskey glass seems a little different from general glass
The ambient music was changed with moving the glass
The animated wallpaper and music suddenly disappear when I pick up the glass
It would be great if I could have this interactive table in my store. It must be something to attract many guests!!
? positive opinion
Will Time Home Pub come true in the future? Time Home Pub explored a new vision of future
home that lets us imagine the future
I will not feel lonely when I want a cup of drink even in my own place. My home can be changed into a bar, so cool!!
Is it already a commercial product? Can I apply it to my home? How much does it cost?
Vision
Can this smart home be available for multi-users? What if I don’t want the ambient change when I
put the glass on the table? Can I manually set different modes?
Toyo Ito: Oh! That’s such a great design if I can drink with my old friend virtually…
Should I use specific whiskey glass or table?
Functions
Without reading instructions
The whiskey glass seems to control the environment lighting and music…
The photos of Liveframe seem to be changed by moving the glass, but they don’t exactly know the relationship between the table and photo frame.
-fair
The whiskey glass seems to control the environment lighting and music…
WOW!! The future living room lets us interact with our daily objects…see the animated wallpaper…
Vision
Don’t know how to make it work?
The interactive table seems interesting, it displayed some patterns on the top of the table
2 negative
Why does the glass control the ambient display and space music? (It’s not reasonable…) Does the rhythm flow of the interactive follow the
music’s tempo?
Function issue
Liveframe looks so pretty. It displayed someone’s photos in slides
A beautiful animated lighting table with bar music… ? positive opinion
Using two projectors in a room is wasting resources of a living environment. Do you think Time Home Pub cares about environmental protection?
Price issues
communication between people [31], but this system has difficulty recognizing different users. It can only have a single interaction between the glass and interactive table. The reacTable enables users to naturally control music by moving an object [24]. However, the controller is a specific pattern-attached object, and it could be improved if objects were devices used in daily life. Therefore, smart spaces not only provide more a natural communication between users and space, but their design must also take user-friendliness into consideration.
Thus, in order to make a space more ‘‘intelligent’’ and sense human touch, we implemented a new vision of smart space–Time Home Pub—which enables communication between physical environment, dwellers, and dwellers’ memories. Preliminary evaluations by visitors during the exhibition demonstrate the satisfactory feasibility of the system and how space can be used as an important emo-tional communication interface to strengthen the relation-ships between people.
Although the installation of the system is difficult and complex (three computers, two projectors, and an interac-tive table are required), the research makes HCI devices ‘‘more human’’ and breaks the unfriendly boundary between human and space. Also, it visualizes the feedback of sensation, which helps to reduce loneliness and feelings of isolation. In the future, by adding more modes (such as game mode, dinner mode, and meeting mode) to adapt to different human activities, the system will become more variable and flexible, and spaces will become friendlier and more suitable to live in.
Acknowledgments The author would like to express her sincere gratitude to Professor Yu-Tung Liu for his comprehensive help and guidance. And thanks Professor June-Hao Hou who helped me a lot in National Chiao Tung University and all AleppoZONE team members who have been involved in the exhibition—Architecture of Tomorrow.
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