Lessons for the Future: Experiences with the installation and use of today’s domestic sensors and technologies

Domestic environments are receiving increasing attention as sites of deployment for pervasive technologies, as evidenced by the growing number of studies of homes and maturing technologies in prototype aware/smart homes. The challenge now is to move technologies out of purpose built homes into everyday environments in ways that will fit with existing buildings and the people who live in them. However, there are many aspects of this future vision that people live with right now in the form of sensors and technologies already in the home. We describe findings from three studies – in-home interviews, a questionnaire about home sensors, and interviews with commercial smart home installers – that explore current experiences with sensors and technologies in the home. These lead us to reflect on the implicit assumptions in, and future design directions for, pervasive research for the home.