CONSCIOUS
ABOUT
ENERGY LOSS
Airy: SMART draught meter
Airy is a playful device combined with an application that helps consumers live more conscious about energy in and around their house. The product makes it easier and more fun to be conscious about open/closed windows and doors in your house in order to prevent draught but still have proper ventilation.
The concept
Getting to know the user
We selected a target group that consists of people aged from 22 to 50 years old who live in relatively old apartments built between 1950 and 1999 (possibly renovated between 1980 and 1999) which are located in urban areas. The ‘energielabel’ of these apartments is between C and G. We chose these buildings because they have a lot of room for improvement but aren’t that old that drastic measures are necessary.
With the smartphone or tablet application, the user is able to:
• digitally draw out the floor plan of their apartment
• measure and visualize the air composition, airflow and temperature
• get notifications about open doors and windows and turning on/off the radiators or electric fireplaces in different rooms and areas
• connect their central heating, doors and windows to their app on their Ipad
• get informed about energy waste and savings in and around their homes and the current air composition
and what they should do to improve it (short term and long term)
The application
The device - Airy
Airy is a small device that you can carry around your house. Airy will have one main docking station for charging.
Airy’s main function is to detect draught and make the inhabitant aware of that. The first step in this project is to let Airy connect to your tablet. The tablet will be your interaction with Airy. After Airy is connected to the tablet, he will help you to draw each room of your house to make an overview of the situation.
Next step in the use of Airy is measuring. In order to measure you can see on your tablet were you should place Airy. When Airy is in place, it will measure for draught. In case of draught, Airy will give a signal.
The user interaction with both the app and the device were tested to see if use of the product was clear. The participants were asked to perform several tasks like 'Connect the app to Airy'. The test was done with a paper prototype and a foam model of Airy.
From the tests it was clear that some interactions were not as obvious as expected and had to be altered.