Robots at home: the role of a more personal internet of things

I’ve been thinking about the role of product design in the upcoming flurry of domestic robot solutions that will soon be thrown at us as consumers. Some quick thoughts.

1. Roomba & AR Drone are only the beginning, the latter entering the doors of our homes through the iPhone’s compatibility. There was a lot of “can I control this from my iPhone” type questions at InnoRobo. The iPhone’s role might grow to control all home tech, however small it might be. This might see the universal remote control market completely disappear in the next 10 years as a result.

2. The objective of Homesense was always to try to look at the home as a hyper-personalised space you couldn’t just stick technology in mindlessly. Assumptions about people’s behaviours and habits were kept to a minimum, if only in the choice of technology we gave them to play with. People made a lot of different things. Home is a highly flexible space where technology lives and dies quickly, objects get used daily or once a year. It’s very hard to operate as a designer in that space without taking this into consideration as robotic companions don’t have a single function. They are not like designing salt and pepper shakers.

3. The politics of domestic space and chores is complex (nice paper by G.Bell here also this ) I like the role of Blinky in this short film. The parental and family tensions that permeate that home is a natural part of what makes a home and not a house. It is intimately linked to why we buy some things. A robot cannot hope to avoid being part of those decision mechanisms.

4. Soft Internet connected devices
I’m quite intrigued by the future appearance of wireless devices that don’t have screens on them at all. I’m reminded of my friend Dana Gordon’s Undercover project. A blanket that plays music in an ambient and personal way. That’s understanding what the power of product design is and automation in a quiet, intimate way.

5. Non-essential goods.
In all this, we have to keep in mind how we treat technology in the home. It’s not about publicly showing off, in the same way we buy phones and clothes. The tensions are different, and the expectations are different too. To close with a comment from a long-time Roomba owner:

A Second Vacuum is a Must
Don’t expect to have any Roomba operate as your only vacuum. They do a great job of keeping the mess down, but we still rely on our Dyson to do it’s weekly job.

It’s gonna get interesting all this.

By designswarm

Blogging since 2005.