'Responsive Environments' surprise Domotica fair

My neighbours at the Domotica Fair of the Smart Homes Foundation really made an impression, with their transgressing designs for 'response environments' in the 'adaptive office'. One of the students involved spoke passionately, alsmost as an artist, about his designs. "It's all about making technology more accessible and adding useability," he said, "In a more natural, logical and intuitive way!"
His urgency made an impression on me. We see not a lot of that in this country.


Seen from the NijFinster stand: the boys of 'Responsive Environments'.

Their tables were stacked with prototypes of 'home automation objects'. Under supervision of head design researcher Jorge Alves Lino the project members showed that there's more to home automation (Dutch: domotica) than automatic door locks, clever cable and tubing systems, or intelligent fire alarms.
"This is very exciting," they told me, "A fair full of end products and here we are, with a lot of very unmatured try outs!"

It made me think. For how long already have we been searching ourselves: for video communication hardware that does not deter its users, but invites them to play; for user interfaces that show them the way, in stead of making them lose it?

Their coach of the day Ben Salem was a man of unorthodox opinions too.
"In fact this fair is an oldfashioned event, all its innovative goals notwithstanding. It's well organised, but there would be so much more to gain. Why are all these kinds of technologies exposed so mixed up? Why is there not a team at the entrance that invites the visitors for a tour of the fair? Why are the unique characteristics of this building not used more effectively? The fair is stacked wirh products ready to market. Why not invite more groups like us, who are searching for new boundaries?"

Worth listening to, I thought. Most technology presents itself so dreary and unimaginatively. This was quite the contrary: artistic, long haired young people from all corners of Europe, led by a passionate thinker, with exciting stuff, built out of nothing. Read more at www.jorgelino.com


Responsive environments.

All pictures by www.festinalente.nl - Inge van Hesteren

Dutch version of this article