CIB W116—Smart and Sustainable Built Environments - Test Input

An issue to consider is that Ambient Intelligence does not need nor use intrusive technology yet it can
be tailored to the human being. The crucial issue is to engage users within the design process. Quoting
Bierhoff and Panis, "Involving users in this case means not only consulting them when the product is
finished, but giving them an active role in the design process and the actual shaping of Ambient
Intelligence.” Inclusive prototypes and tests to experiment and to validate results will be also an
important contribution to a more qualified solution. The inclusive design concept comprises the use
of the equipment as well as the usability provided by the communication panels conceived to interact
with individuals.
According with the statement of Dr Juan Carlos Augusto, there is like a trend allowing different
houses to be called “smart houses”; however it will become “hard to say how many actually deserve
the label - as this depends on where the line is drawn between something behaving intelligently or
not.” (PressOffice, 2005). An interesting example can be given by a house built on Ericeira
(Domática, 2009), a village located within Lisbon Metropolitan Area, near the sea and around 40
miles from the city centre. This is a luxury house, where the concept of Smart (dumb) House is
(theoretically) applied. In its interior it is possible to identify the security system, the computer which
controls different equipments and allows the connection between the freezer and the supermarket, the
home cinema equipment. But, looking at the pictures (see below), although fashionable and appealing,
it appears everything but inclusive.
Figure 5,6,7,8 & 9: House of the future, Ericeira, Portugal (Domática, 2009)
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