Designing smart artifacts for smart environments

• Published in: Computer (Long Beach, Calif.) Vol. 38; no. 3; pp. 41 - 49
• Main Authors: Streitz, N.A., Rocker, C., Prante, T., van Alphen, D., Stenzel, R., Magerkurth, C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY IEEE 01-03-2005; IEEE Computer Society; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Availability; Cellular phones; Cohesion; Communications technology; Computer science; control theory; systems; Control systems; Detection; Exact sciences and technology; Humans; Information technology; Interior design; Miscellaneous; Personal digital assistants; Portable computers; Refrigeration; Roads; Smart homes; Theoretical computing; Trends; Work environment; Informal communication; Cooperation; Occupational mobility; Team work
• ISSN: 0018-9162; 1558-0814
• DOI: 10.1109/MC.2005.92

Smart artifacts promise to enhance the relationships among participants in distributed working groups, maintaining personal mobility while offering opportunities for the collaboration, informal communication, and social awareness that contribute to the synergy and cohesiveness inherent in collocated teams. Two complementary trends have resulted in the creation of smart environments that integrate information, communication, and sensing technologies into everyday objects. We distinguish between two types of smart artifacts: system-oriented, importunate smartness and people-oriented, empowering smartness. The system-oriented and people-oriented approaches represent the end points of a line along which we can position weighted combinations of both types of smartness depending on the application domain. We developed the Hello.Wall, our version of an ambient display, for the Ambient Agoras environment. The Hello.Wall transmits organization-oriented information publicly and information addressed to individuals privately.