Interactions - January/February 2009

other, drawing inspiration from our own backgrounds in computer science, design, architecture, and qualitative research, as well as incorporating our own analysis of existing commercial products and research concepts and prototypes. We also considered properties of restorative environments in generating design sketches. For example, environments that provide a sense of “being away” are refreshing and reduce mental fatigue [ 7], so we explored mechanisms that support separation between work and home. As another example, environments with fascinating patterns that effortlessly hold one’s attention are also restorative

[ 7], so we explored designs that expose engaging patterns.

Bachelard writes, “We have our cottage moments and our palace moments [ 12].” We also have our working moments and our relaxing moments; our public moments and our intimate moments; and our active moments and our reflective moments. It is important to support clear differentiation of such diverse experiences in the

home while also acknowledging the complexities of domestic life that tie these experiences together. In this work we have

sought to explore these issues holistically, considering how different aspects of the home such as architecture and technology can be jointly designed to create a dynamic and rich environment. The solutions we propose highlight opportunities to design for variety and suggest a range of technologies and spaces that

might make up the heterogeneous home.

and health impact information about everyday products. Ryan holds a B.S. in computer science from Rice University and an M.S. in computer science from the University of California, Berkeley.

[ 12] Bachelard, G. The Poetics of Space. Boston: Beacon Press, 1969.

Ben Hooker is an artist and designer, and a faculty member in the media design program at the Art Center College of Design.

Although his background is in screen-based multimedia design, for the past few years most of his projects have centered on collaborations with architects, industrial designers, and computer scientists working in the field of human computer interaction. The result of these collaborations is a body of work that explores the consequences of intangible computer-gen-erated “data landscapes” merging with real, physical spaces. He has a B.Sc. in electronic imaging and media communica-

tions and an M.A. in computer-related design from the Royal College of Art.

Acknowledgments We are grateful to environmental psychologist Sally Augustin for introducing us to restorative environment theory and for providing valuable feedback on this work. We also thank Paul Aoki, John Canny, and Shona Kitchen for helpful discussions. Ryan Aipperspach performed this work as a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley. Ben Hooker performed this work as a visiting researcher at Intel Research Berkeley.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS Ryan Aipperspach is on leave from the University of California, Berkeley, where he studied at the Berkeley

Institute of Design. There his focus was on studying and developing portable domestic technologies. He is currently the user experience lead at GoodGuide.com, a website to help people find safe, healthy, and green products by providing credible social, environmental,

Allison Woodruff is a
researcher at Intel
Research Berkeley. Her pri-
mary interests include envi-
ronmentally sustainable
technologies, technology
for domestic environments, mobile and
communication technologies, and ubiqui-
tous computing. Prior to joining Intel, She
worked as a researcher at PARC from 1998
to 2004. She holds a B.A. in English from
California State University, Chico; an M.S.
in computer science, and an M.A. in lin-
guistics from the University of California,
Davis; and a Ph.D. in computer science
from the University of California, Berkeley.