6 research outputs found
An AAL collaborative system: the AAL4ALL and a mobile assistant case study
"15th IFIP WG 5.5 Working Conference on Virtual Enterprises, PRO-VE 2014, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, October 6-8, 2014"The areas of Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) and Intelligent Systems (IS) are in full development, but there are still some issues to be resolved. One issue is the myriad of user oriented solutions that are rarely built to interact or integrate with other systems available in the market. In this paper we present the AAL4ALL project and the UserAccess implementation, showing a novel approach towards virtual organizations, interoperability and certification. The aim of this project is to provide a collaborative network of services and devices that connect every user and product from other developers, building a heterogeneous ecosystem. Thus establishing an environment for collaborative care systems, which may be available to the users in from of safety services, comfort services and healthcare services.Project "AAL4ALL", co-financed by the European Community Fund FEDER, through COMPETE - Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade (POFC). Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), Lisbon, Portugal, through Project PEst-C/CTM/LA0025/2013 and the project PEst-OE/EEI/UI0752/2014.
Project CAMCoF - Context-aware Multimodal Communication Framework fund-ed by ERDF -European Regional Development Fund through the COMPETE Pro-gramme (operational programme for competitiveness) and by National Funds through the FCT - Fundação para a CiĂȘncia e a Tecnologia (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) within project FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-028980
âNo powers, man!â: A student perspective on designing university smart building interactions
Smart buildings offer an opportunity for better performance and enhanced experience by contextualising services and interactions to the needs and practices of occupants. Yet, this vision is limited by established approaches to building management, delivered top-down through professional facilities management teams, opening up an interaction-gap between occupants and the spaces they inhabit. To address the challenge of how smart buildings might be more inclusively managed, we present the results of a qualitative study with student occupants of a smart building, with design workshops including building walks and speculative futuring. We develop new understandings of how student occupants conceptualise and evaluate spaces as they experience them, and of how building management practices might evolve with new sociotechnical systems that better leverage occupant agency. Our findings point to important directions for HCI research in this nascent area, including the need for HBI (Human-Building Interaction) design to challenge entrenched roles in building management
A caregiver support platform within the scope of an ambient assisted living ecosystem
The Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) area is in constant evolution, providing
new technologies to users and enhancing the level of security and comfort that is ensured
by house platforms. The Ambient Assisted Living for All (AAL4ALL) project aims to
develop a new AAL concept, supported on a unified ecosystem and certification process
that enables a heterogeneous environment. The concepts of Intelligent Environments,
Ambient Intelligence, and the foundations of the Ambient Assisted Living are all presented
in the framework of this project. In this work, we consider a specific platform developed in
the scope of AAL4ALL, called UserAccess. The architecture of the platform and its role
within the overall AAL4ALL concept, the implementation of the platform, and the available
interfaces are presented. In addition, its feasibility is validated through a series of tests.Project âAAL4ALLâ, co-financed by the European Community Fund FEDER, through COMPETEâPrograma Operacional Factores de Competitividade (POFC). Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), Lisbon, Portugal, through Project PEst-C/CTM/LA0025/2013. Project CAMCoFâContext-Aware Multimodal Communication Framework funded by ERDFâEuropean Regional Development Fund through the COMPETE Programme (operational programme for competitiveness) and by National Funds through the FCTâFundação para a CiĂȘncia e a Tecnologia (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) within project FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-028980. This work is part-funded by National Funds through the FCT - Fundação para a CiĂȘncia e a Tecnologia (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) within project PEst-OE/EEI/UI0752/201
Smart Homes or Smart Occupants? Supporting Aware Living in the Home
Part 1: Long and Short PapersInternational audienceAwareness of resource consumption in the home is a key part of reducing our ecological footprint yet lack of appropriate understanding and motivation often deters residents from behaviour change. The coming deployment of smart metering technologies, the increasing practicality of embedded devices, and the widespread use of Internet and mobile tools offer new opportunities for âgreenerâ residents. We report on the design and implementation of a holistic interactive system that supports residents in awareness of resource use and facilitates efficient control of house systems to encourage conservation in daily activities. Initial response from two high-profile deployments in unique homes indicates this approach has great potential in engaging residents in sustainable living, but presents many challenges in how technology is integrated into the home environment
Human-Centred Smart Buildings: Reframing Smartness Through the Lens of Human-Building Interaction
PhD ThesisSmart buildings backed by data and algorithms promise reduced energy use and increased
value for businesses and occupants. Yet, this has typically been considered from an
engineering and systems perspective. Given increasing integration of sensing and
ubiquitous computing technologies in modern built environments, a growing HumanComputer Interaction (HCI) and Human-Building Interaction (HBI) community has begun
to advocate for the human-centred design of building technologies.
This dissertation argues that there is a need for an inclusive, socially just and sustainable
HBI agenda, to enable smarter buildings and facilities management. Deconstructing âsmartâ
rhetoric within HCI/HBI discourse and highlighting the values and ethics underpinning it, I
argue that existing approaches to âsmartnessâ privilege automation and efficiency over the
needs of human occupants. I undertake a qualitative inquiry into the roles of data and
digital technologies in human-centred smart buildings through three case studies:
i) How retrofitted environment sensors facilitate smarter energy auditing
practices. I contribute a methodology for using sensor toolkits in auditing,
technical design of the BuildAX sensing platform, and insights into sensoraugmented audits and how future standards might support these.
ii) How data and digital technologies foster collective experiences of thermal
comfort for office workers. I contribute a data elicitation interview method,
design of the ThermoKiosk experience survey system, and considerations for
integrating office tensions into workplace comfort management.
iii) How HBI can support agency and participation in the everyday management
and adaptation of a contemporary smart building. I contribute a âbuilding walksâ
method to elicit conversations on the future of building technologies, new
understandings of how student occupants conceptualise and evaluate spaces,
and how buildings of the future might better enable occupant agency.
Through these, I contribute a re-framing of smartness to be more human-centred, including
concerns for collaboration, inclusion, and human decision-making which does not consider
occupants a âproblemâ to be solved. The results of the case studies are synthesised into a set
of six principles for the design of technology within human-centred smart buildings, re-grounding the field of HBI in the philosophy of environmental and social justice