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.
DOI: 10.1145/1456202.1456211
© 2009 ACM 1072-5220/09/0100 $5.00