Follow the Mellow Brick Glow | An Augmented Space Project

MELLOW [BRICK] GLOWNighttime protection for you...And your shins.

Liz Rutledge | February 24, 2011| Major Studio: Interactivity

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case in point:my apartment.

sometimes the layout of apartments is confusing.

bizarre jutting-out walls

areas prone to foot-traffic bottlenecks

incomprehensible light switch locations and functionality

my late night trips to the kitchen/bath:

a traffic flow diagram

seriously though. WHAT is that light switch doing there?!

TO GET TO THE KITCHEN/BATH YOU HAVE TO:

avoid roommate debris in complete darkness

walk halfway to the kitchen before you even get to the

[horribly-placed] light switch

TO ACCOMPLISH THIS, YOU END UP:

hobbling through the dark like an octogenarian

let’s consider a plausible floorplan for a 2-BR apartment in NYC.

at first it doesn’t look so hard to get around...

it’s not just me.

...until you add furniture.

and what if you have a messy roomate (human, dog or otherwise)?

getting to the bathroom and kitchen is full of obstacles!traversing this 2-BR just got a lot harder—

let’s look at the traffic flow from Bedroom 1:

not horrible... (unless your dog likes sleeping in hallways)

but now let’s look at the path from Bedroom 2:

getting to the facilities = much more of a challenge

now, let’s imagine this minefield —in the dark.if only we had some way to help out poor Roommate 2...

...by illuminating safe routes to the most important facilities.

::sigh:: my stubbed toes feel better already.

many people have to make a similar nightly trip through the darkness.

especially DT students!

some common reasons we might make the trek:

up late working or studying [or preparing presentations...]

that late-night snack or a 3am glass of water

nighttime trips to the bathroom

a much-needed break from your trusty soldering iron

reasons not to just leave all the lights on (or get another [closer] lamp):

energy costs (both financial and environmental)

roomates or guests that are sleeping nearby while you’re up working

not wanting to fully wake up if just out of bed to grab a quick drink or bathroom trip

how can we augment our living space

to make these late-night journeys less treacherous?

precedent 1: lighting that knows where you are.

Invisible House by Studio (n-1)

IR sensors throughout ceiling panels sense your presence...

...triggering lights directly above you to turn on

precedent 2: airline emergency lighting systems lights guide you to safety by illuminating exit route

precedent 3: Sleeping Beauty—the glowing orbthe ultimate in glowing route indicators

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and now, introducing...the proposed product and options for implementation

your ceiling is now your guardian angel...or at least your own personal wilderness guide.

your entire ceiling becomes a grid of infrared sensors—in effect, your ceiling “knows” the

location of all the stationary objects in the room

the ceiling also contains a series of projectors that use the data captured by the IR sensors to

display projections related to objects in the room

by tracking your movement with relation to the mapped objects, your ceiling can assist you in

your treacherous journey by “communicating” through projections

proposed solution:a ‘smart’ home environment to augment your senses

a seamless synthesis of digital augmentation and architecture:the system dictates the form of the space, not just a layer

One way to begin thinking about these questions is to approach the design of augmented space as an architectural problem. Augmented space provides a challenge and an opportunity for many architects to rethink their practice, since archi tecture will have to take into account the fact that from now on, virtual layers of contextual information will overlay built space.”

Lev Manovich, “The Poetics of Augmented Space: The Art of Our Time”

“

implementation 1: minimalist collision preventionilluminate the edge of objects only if you come within 12”

implementation 2: “connect the dots”turn your predicted traffic patterns into stepping stones

let your ceiling guide you to where you go most

attach id transmitter tags to key locations in your home that you know you’ll need to find in the dark (like the fridge, bathroom, sink, light switches, etc)

the system will automatically project paths to these locations when it senses your movement

the path will only light up near you, but will add “stones” as you go —additional directions will appear as you approach a divergence point

ID Tag

ID Tag

ID Tag

ID Tag

ID Tag

ID Tag

ID Tag

take a load off:don’t have to avoid collisions, just follow the stone path

easy to see...even half-asleep without your glasses.just stay on that blurry lit path and you’ll get there safely

illuminated stone path

the user might not need or even want to have their hand held in such a simple task—or they might just prefer a night light

more energy consuming due to the multiple sensors and projectors

subtle collision warning

only gives you warning when you’re nearing disaster, so you

still have to be somewhat on alert (and would still walk slowly)

light shines on what you don’t want to walk towards, which

might hinder your night vision when it comes to seeing the

things you do want to aim for

potential weaknesses of the two “settings”a trade-off between minimalism and ease of use [even while stupid]

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illuminated stone path

gives you knowledge of what’s coming so your brain can prepare, allowing you to go faster

more visible, an advantage for people with less mobility, poor eye sight, and for small children, etc

allows you to tag frequently visited areas to customize the experience

gives the illusion of “magic”

subtle collision warning

uses less power

treats you “like an adult” (no hand-holding)

a more subtle and unobtrusive treatment

could borrow the tagging concept from the path implementation and

illuminate potential destinations as you approach

strengths of the two implementations/settings:low-energy cost elegance vs. fun and wonderment

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overall weaknesses

would be prohibitively expensive to actually implement with current technology. (unfortunately money does not grow on trees....yet.)

the level of technology is a bit like swatting a fly with a sledgehammer—at the end of the day, a night light could solve many of these problems.

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overall strengths

using this augmented space would be, if I may say so myself, totally sweet

while technological overkill, creates a sense of wonderment and magic that is often missing from our daily lives

not financially viable with current technology, but the technology does exist—perhaps more feasible in future

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THANK YOU.

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