Thesis

Intro

view on pitch

Video & Bilder

KW06

Although I’m really tired and have kind of closed the projects in my mind, I finished the video and documentation.

KW05

On Monday I had my presentation and defense in the cold studio. After I was done it took about 30min for me to get more tired than I could have imagined.

I still had to finalize my exhibition scene with foil, hang all the devices and attach power. For the exhibition I also printed the sensors in a darker material for better contrast.

KW04

Over this and last week the Bridge code and data handling was completed and refined to require less „thinking“ and make better usage of the very limited storage and resources of the arduino.

Also I did put quite some time to my exhibition piece: Testing font sizes, colors, positioning, painting etc.

Also I had to finish my thesis. I can’t exactly categorize when I wrote what, but I did it more or less whenever was time. A lot still happened this week tho, let’s be honest.

KW03

As mentioned, I expected some errors and there were some errors. But after two misses I had two nice and working pieces.

Additionally while the cnc was working I was already writing the servo code— thank god there’s noice cancelling. So when the pieces were cut i could directly assemble and test everything. I’m proud to say that my code worked out on the first try. 🌚

This week I also started planning and setting up my exhibition scene.

Then there was only the Bridge left that needed a case. Again measuring, sketching and CADing. Then I went to the cnc mill again as I’m way more confident to get it right on the first try now— I still needed two tries.

KW02

The bigger 16x16 LED Matrix arrived and I was able to implement the final version of the display. I also wrote and updated the Perlin Noise visualization.

I started to work on the last Display, that shows the Light difference, as I still wanted to do something physical.

After finishing the cad file I went cnc milling, as I expected some errors.

KW01

The cad process for the led ring option is finished and went into the 3d printer – estimated 36 hours, ouch.

Sadly, due to the cold temperatures at the campus, the print shrank down really bad and nothing was fitting as it had to be ~0.2mm precise — it wasn’t.

As I didn’t want to loose any more time figuring this issue out I decided to go for the LED Matrix covered by mesh fabric, as I’m not reliant on any own produced parts.

This week I also adapted the software of the Sense L10 to the A10 and it’s BME module.

KW52

Over the course of this and last week I came up with some ideas regarding the possible data visualizations.

I wanted to do very physical products, that work by moving wood or similar, but all drafts turned out to get either overly time consuming in terms of production time, at a.g. the cnc mill, or overly complex to code as one idea featured a servo system, where one servo builds the base and another sits at the end of that servos „arm“. While this would allow for a good solution in terms of size and operational effort, the algorithmic solution would have been very complex. Also the structure would have been quite fragile.

A wooden dotmatrix with the explained servo control. Even a very low resolution of 16x16 would already mean to mill/print 256 pins. Each of them needs a tiny feather to return to their not-elevated position.

A more simple version would work by pushing in a linear motion with actuators, but would also require the feathers to prevent stuck pieces. Also the pins were replaced by wooden „cards“. The wooden production effort also eliminated this draft…

Then there has been the idea to build a servo controlled led ring, that’s been elevated or lowered. The ring would project on a translucent paper/acrylic plate or my mesh fabric. In the center of the ring would be some sort of ring or platform that hinders the rings light to hit the surface in the center. This construction did look quite promising, but was very challenging in terms of production, as all the parts were really small. I decided to give it a try tho.

In this sketch can also be seen, that the option for an more classic led matrix exists. While it’s easier to produce a visually pleasing animation is more complex to program.

KW51

I’ve been sick again for 4 days… quite annoying.

Over the holidays i wanted to think about the possible visualizations for the data.

At least I was able to come up with a rough data structure for the mqtt communication.

As I noticed the lower printing time for the Sense A10 Module due to the „wholy“ design, I decided to adapt the Sense L10 design to save time and material.

KW50

As the code and the case_v1 for Sense L10 are both finished for now, I started working on the case for the Sense A10. Same as before: Measuring, sketching, CADing, printing.

This week we also had the Dorfjungs. Christmas party. Before that we visited the Vitra campus and design museum, which has been a great source of inspiration for product design. As we got shown around the offices and different areas around the whole factory and campus, I learnt a lot about interior spaces – how they function and how we use them.

KW49

As I have been sick for a few days not that much has happened…

I did finish the sensor readout for Sense L10 and started sketching and measuring for the Sense A10 tho.

KW48

As the case for the Sense L10 is printed and finished, i started working on the code. For all devices the wifi-setup und mqtt functionality are very important as the sensor data should be quite easy to access.

The main connectivity works by trying to connect via wifi, if this succeeds, try to connect to mqtt, if this succeeds start looping.

If the wifi connection fails, start an Access Point and Webserver for setup. Here you can enter your WiFi-Credentials and assign a unique name to the device – for examle „BachelorspaceAir“.

The entered values are stored on a local file system (LittleFS) so they are accessible even after being powered off for quite some time.

KW47

Since the sensors have been sketched out the next step is their CAD Design, as the cases need to meet certain conditions.

This is the first draft for the Sense L10, with cutouts for accurate lighting measurements. This is only v1, later on there will be an updated version that’s more fitting to the look of A10.

3D Printing has also started.

KW44 – KW46

Product definition started

view on pitch

Sketching started

I also ordered a sh*t load of Arduinos…

Surveys

Survey started rolling out and first results are coming in.

homegrid.systems/survey/

Research

Bought some nice books I'm working myself through right now. Some are about classic product design, but more of them are about the future of cities, as I believe Smarthomes and the future of cities are very intertwined— Dieter Rams, Space10, Monocle,… a lot of input.

KW 43

Research

Definition of the term „Shytech“

The most important term for my project is Shytech. It describes technical gadgets and devices that try to hide their technical functions and purpose from their users. Although those devices are starting to come more and more into our lives, most people probably haven’t heard about the actual term. One of the most well known examples would be the „Symphonisk“ series from IKEA— smarthome speakers, that look like ordinary objects, as Lamps or File Folders, and are linkable to create great sound systems no one notices at the first glance.

Smarthome Privacy Risks and possible advantages of captured data

The recent years as well as my desperate research have shown, that there is a great lack of private home data provided by users. Smarthome devices, that track data about our personal life, are highly in doubt by a lot of people— I can’t blame them. Today every couple of weeks or months another debate about privacy concerns regarding another service sparks in the media. This results in less and less people being open and grapple with Smarthome and gathering data about their personal live.

In future, Smarthome needs to become way more trustable to really have an positive impact on society. We need to provide more of our private data in order for scientists to be able to learn about our society, it’s needs and habits.

Psychological impact of displays and visible technology in private environments

Currently, in 2022, 24,5% of workers are working remote from their desks (statista). This number had peaked in 2020, when the corona pandemic had taken over the world and forced everyone to isolate and stay at home— 27% of workers were bound to their home office desks (statista). Those numbers don't account students and similar, only those currently working, or looking for work. So the percentage of overall population actually was much much higher.

As one of those students, that were forced to study and work at home for almost 2 years straight, I—and many of my fellow students—had daily screen times of up to 16–18 hours and around 11–13 hours on average. Those tremendous numbers changed my perception of screens. No matter the type: smartphone, laptop, monitor, tv— I almost feel stressed/sickened just by using or even seeing any of them as a result. The alarming part: Surveys show, that this phenomenon isn’t just a personal feeling.

A survey from October 2013 already did prove, that 57% of germans between 16 and 64 feel like looking at screens all the time— and there’s absolutely no doubt, this number has risen highly in the last 10 years. What i noticed during my research is, that we have surveys, data etc on those topics, but close to no scientific info about the psychological effect, this „constantly looking at screens“ has on human beeings— not the screen times in particular, there's plenty of info about that, but instead the permanent impact bust „just perceiving“ displays.

Evolution of smarthome devices

Research in progress

Communications

Heiko Mühle — Architect

• appointment made
• exact questions to be chosen

Sven Ehmann — Data Experience Expert

• appointment to be made

? — interior designer

• currently searching

Products

• Collecting and sorting types of smarthome data and how to acquire or access those data

• Ideation of products started with first sketches and notes.

  → Gathering ideas to later more easily match with the survey results

• Exploring product testing workflow

• Currently evaluation if using preexisting „demo-data“ or gathering custom data

• Arduinos to be delivered on friday

Risk Analysis

• Material and Hardware supply chains
• Production Limitations
• Costs
• Perfectionism
• Surveys don’t come out „in my favor“

Target Group

Archetypes

• The Discoverer
  adventurous, independent, individualistic

• The Innocent

  spontaneous, optimistic, reliable, moral

• The Wise

  thoughtful, analytical, trustworthy, intelligent

KW 42

Research

Definition of the term „Shytech“

Smarthome Privacy Risks and possible advantages of captured data

• gathering questions for surveys

Psychological impact of displays and visible technology in the private environment

• gathering questions for surveys

Evolution of smarthome devices

Change of the human-display relationship over the years

Communications

Heiko Mühle — Architect

• exact questions to be chosen

Sven Ehmann — Data Experience Expert

• appointment to be made

? — interior designer

• currently searching

Products

• Collecting and sorting types of smarthome data and how to acquire or access those data
• Ideation of products started with first sketches and notes.
  → Gathering ideas to later more easily match with the survey results
• Exploring product testing workflow
• Currently evaluation if using preexisting „demo-data“ or gathering custom data

Sketches

KW 41

Research

Definition of the term „Shytech“

• widely unknown, but the tech behind finds it's place to mainstream

Smarthome Privacy Risks and possible advantages of captured data

• data shortage in home/private sector! Slows down science of this field

• challenge to make this data collection way more „trustable“

  → work with surveys to get an insight to the current situation in germany across my targeted group of users

Psychological impact of displays and visible technology in the private environment

• very few scientific articles or research in general on this topic; only infos about screentime effects in children or screens in an work environment

  → also work with surveys + interviews with architects and interior designers

Communications

Heiko Mühle — Architect

• appointment made
• exact questions to be chosen

Sven Ehmann — Data Experience Expert

• appointment to be made

? — interior designer

• currently searching

Schmankerl