Clever HomeTom Lynch

Clever HomeTom Lynch

INTRODUCTION

Clever Home is my vision for the future of smart homes. It is an extension of today's smart home, a system which uses intelligent devices and sensor inputs to automate tasks in the home. In the home of the future, devices will be interconnected and will be centrally controlled to further reduce the burden of household life.

Existing depictions of the smart home feature new showroom like homes with all the latest gadgetry preinstalled. Realistically however, most people will want to build up their smart homes piece by piece with retrofitted devices rather than gutting and refitting their homes. To this end I have imagined a number of devices designed for the needs of such retrofitters.

Methodology

My approach to this project was pragmatic, idealistic and influenced by a sense of realism. Frustrated by the unrealistic implementation of existing visions of the smart home I wanted to imagine how I would like a smart home to be. Taking into account my interest and knowledge of developments in new technology I projected this forward.

This project is derived from a first year project of mine entitled 'Living with Robots' which was set in conjunction with Intel. The project started life as Robot Home, a sentient home who is frustrated with the occupant who regularly obstructs the good work of the Robot Home. When returning to this project for my second year I totally reimagined the home and focused on the idea of a home that takes care of its occupants.

SCENARIOSThe following is a short explanation of each of the three video scenarios and

an additional fourth story scenario.

The video scenarios can be viewed at:http://tomlynch.co.uk/cleverhome

1: COMPLACENCY

In the future devices around the home will be controlled wirelessly by an advanced computer learning system. Over time the system goes through several stages of operation:

1. Manual The system watches the actions of the occupant, trying to find patterns to replicate.

2. Override The system runs automatically and watches carefully for overrides by the occupant to learn from.

3. Harmony The occupant relinquishes all control to Clever Home as they are now operating in harmony.

4. Complacency The occupant becomes too comfortable with the system and as their needs drift the system is unable to detect these changes because they are accepting of what is presented to them rather than providing feedback.

In this scenario Clever Home selects a disruption to jolt the occupant out of their complacent state.

2: BAD WEATHER

Clever Home constantly monitors online services to look for potential problems such as traffic and poor weather. Today there is a 76% chance of rain, Clever Home has notified the occupant of this, suggesting they take an umbrella.

The occupant ignores Clever Home's sensible advice and leaves their umbrella behind. Clever Home quickly begins calculating a method to trick the occupant to take an umbrella for their own good.

Clever Home logs into the car's computer and recalibrates the windscreen water jets to squirt over the roof towards the front door. The light splattering of the jets on the occupant's arm is just enough to convince the occupant that it's raining and to take an umbrella.

3: STUCK IN THE DOOR

Maintenance is one of the many duties of Clever Home. Recently Clever Home detected a fault with one of the internal door locking mechanisms. Clever Home can do many things but convincing the occupant to do maintenance chores is not one of them.

Clever Home determines that the maintenance will never get done unless it intervenes. Clever Home has calculated a brute force method of slamming the door will probably fix the door for now, so it begins to scheme a way to force the occupant to slam the door.

Knowing the occupant is sensitive to dust and pollen, Clever Home slowly ramps up the levels over a few days. This causes the occupant to run out of tissues at a pivotal moment of frustration. The occupant strops off to get more tissues, slamming the door behind them, fixing the lock.

4: HERDING CATS

It is mid-afternoon on a warm summers day. All is quiet. The sun streams in and a light breeze whistles through an open window. But all is not well. Clever Home has detected an unrecognised intruder while the occupant is out at the park.

Utilising its computer vision system, Clever Home detected the movement of a mouse in the living room. The mouse has been classified as a hygiene issue and Clever Home begins to calculate numerous potential solutions to dispatch the problem rodent.

Cross-referencing available resources for their suitability, and likelihood of success. The proposed resolution is to use one of the multitude of household robots to creep up on the mouse, vacuum it up, and safely relocate him when the occupant returns home.

Vacuum Robot #2 is sent off to the living room. The soft mechanical

whirring of the motors can be heard as the robot quietly positions it's self ready for the pounce. The robot starts its run up to the mouse. En-route the robot activates the 3.5 kilowatt dual cyclone vacuum in an attempt to simultaneously scoop and suck up the mouse into the dust bag.

But before the robot can get near enough the mouse is off, faster than a sprinter off the 100M starting line. Clever Home has failed miserably and begins to calculate another solution. Its analysis concludes that mice are far too sensitive to the robot's movement and sound for it to be able to sneak up on the mouse. Additionally the mouse is too fast to out run with a lowly cleaning robot.

The next best option for Clever Home is to utilise the natural instincts of a born killer, who is presently sleeping in the middle of the landing in a small, tightly nestled, ball-like mound. Smudge, the household cat, at present cunningly positioned to maximise sunbathing time from the sunlight

beaming in through the window, is to be the subject of Clever Home's latest attempt to capture the mouse.

Clever Home is not unfamiliar with Smudge. Indeed Clever Home regularly deals with the aftermath of attacked household robots, and other such nuisances. Clever Home simulates various permutations in an attempt to calculate a way of bringing the cat to the mouse, which is presently in the bathroom. This time Clever Home will utilise the cleaning robots to herd the cat into the direction of the intruder.

War has been declared. Clever Home is dispatching a battalion of vacuum and mopping robots on the ground, dusting quad-copters in the air and cobweb busters to abseil the walls. The battle plans are drawn. Every possible avenue of escape for the cat is guarded. The only route available leads directly to the bathroom. Vacuum Robot #2 is sent in to wake the cat, perhaps as penance for its previous failure?

The battalion of robots waits patiently as ever for instructions. Then, suddenly, VROOM goes the sound of the 3.5 kilowatt dual cyclone vacuum mere inches from the sunbathing cat. REAAOW screams the cat fleeing for its life, unsure as to what has just occurred. Vacuum Robot #2 and Smudge have a long and checkered history of incidents. Both scarper in opposite directions.

In the blink of an eye the cat has made his way through the house with all other avenues closed off by the battalion. At the door of the bathroom stands Smudge, veins pumping with adrenaline, He sees the mouse and instantly instincts kick in and the cat switches from flight to fight and begins hunting the mouse, now cowering in the corner of the bathroom under the basin.

R.I.P Little Mouse

PRODUCTCATALOGUE

SPECTRUM BULB

In the future all light bulbs will utilise LED technology. In addition to the increased efficiency of this type of bulb comes another benefit, colour.

LEDs are available in many colours, however having red, green and blue LEDs means you can mix any colour in the spectrum.

Spectrum Bulbs will have built-in wireless networking that allows Clever Home to address each bulb individually, or in groups to create subtle shifts in white balance through to distinct colours.

Eventually light switches will be replaced with blanking plates or filled in to cover the hole.

ELECTRONIC LOCK

In existing houses it is not practical to replace the doors with electronic opening doors. Improved security and privacy can be gained by retrofitting existing doors with wireless, self-recharging electronic locks.

These locks come in a range of designs to match existing doors. This unit (left) is the standard type use for internal doors. When Clever Home locks the door the handle is disengaged internally from the bolt.

VACUUM ROBOT

In the future the cleaning cupboard will be cleared out and filled with new cleaning robots. Each robot is responsible for a certain area of cleaning. The cupboard is their charging base. Robots are dispatched from this location to perform their regular tasks.

Additionally Clever Home can remotely control them to perform more unusual tasks such as working together to move furniture and entertaining pets.

Other types of cleaning robots will use quad-copter chassis to allow them to fly, or electronic spider feet to abseil the walls.

MULTI-DIMENSIONAL CCTV

Today we think of CCTV as only useful for security purposes, however in the future these images will be analysed by computer vision systems to detect and monitor behaviour to augment the computer learning system and watch for violent or threatening behaviour which may necessitate external intervention.

A home fitted with high-definition plenoptic lens cameras and infrared light coding will allow camera images to sense depth and work in unison to produce live 3D models of each room in your home, 3D vision will significantly assist computer vision systems in detecting gestures and movements over present 2D vision systems.

ABOUT ME

I am a final year MA Design Interactions student at the Royal College of Art, London. I have a keen interest in technology and Maker culture. After studying graphic design at college I moved on to study new media where I rediscovered an interest in electronics, and found a way to tie in my interest in programming.

For more information and to contact me please visit my website:

http://tomlynch.co.uk

tomlynch.co.uk