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The Ambience of Ambient Intelligence: An Asian Approach to Ambient Systems?
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
ScienceDirect Procedia Manufacturing 3 (2015) 2155 – 2161
6th International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics (AHFE 2015) and the Affiliated Conferences, AHFE 2015
The ambience of ambient intelligence: An Asian approach to ambient systems? Cindy Lin Kaiyinga, Daniela Alina Plewea, Carsten Röckerb, * a National University of Singapore, Singapore Ostwestfalen-Lippe UAS &Fraunhofer IOSB-INA, Lemgo, Germany
b
Abstract Most research in the field of ambient technology has been conducted in Western cultural spheres. In this paper, we want to explore potential approaches designers might take towards ambient systems in Asian contexts. We particularly aim at exploring the role of “ambience” in the development of such systems and analyzing how aesthetic factors vary depending on culture. We observed that efficiency and environmental factors influence design decisions and serve as feedback on smart technologies. © 2015 2015 The B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license © The Authors. Authors.Published PublishedbybyElsevier Elsevier B.V. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer-review under responsibility of AHFE Conference. Peer-review under responsibility of AHFE Conference
Keywords:Aesthetic intelligence; Ambient intelligence; Smart home; Assurance; China
1. Introduction Most research in the field of ambient intelligence (AmI) technology has been conducted and constructed with relation to “Western” cultural spheres. From China, we want to ask if and how does the broader environment affects the evolution of ambient intelligent systems. In other words, what role does the “ambience of Ambient Intelligence” play in the development of the field and how do aesthetic factors as introduced under Aesthetic Intelligence (see, e.g., [1], [2] [3] [4] or [9]) vary depending on culture? We observe that efficiency and environmental factors influence and serve as feedback on Smart technologies. This feedback shapes the design of these Smart technologies
* Corresponding author. E-mail address:[email protected]
2351-9789 © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer-review under responsibility of AHFE Conference doi:10.1016/j.promfg.2015.07.355
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to trigger and stimulate certain emotions in their users. These emotions are revealing of how users in China are adapting or are influenced by the current socioeconomic context of China – urbanisation and growing middle-class – where the most prominent stimulated emotion is a sense of assurance [28]. In this paper, we want to explore how efficiency and environmental factors shape the design and emotional outputs of Chinese Smart technologies. From efficiency, we observe a phenomenon in Asian cultures which we will call “hypermultitasking”. The phenomenon of hypermultitasking is evident in Chinese home automation technology – reliance on a single mobile application to perform several other unrelated functions besides remote control of Smart appliances – which highlights the importance of multitasking and thus, efficiency in Chinese culture. The culture of efficiency feeds into the aesthetics of Chinese Smart technologies, assuring users of their productivity derived from the ability to perform multiple tasks including emotionally-invested mediated social interactions. Where environmental factor is concerned, the emotional requirement in the design of Chinese Smart home technology is primarily, in its ability to assure users of their ability to regulate in-house air pollution, a significant environmental problem in recent years [15][16]. The increasing anxiety and concern for both indoor and outdoor environmental safety have produced technology with peculiar features to arouse particular emotional results among users in China. Providing emotional support by increasing the assurance users can have in their ability to survey and monitor the invisible toxic surroundings, AmI technology is not only a tool of assurance but more impactfully, support in times of disaster and emergency. We hope to demonstrate what may qualify as an Asian approach to creating emotionally stimulating ambient intelligences and also describe how aesthetic intelligence is being played out in Asian societies to increase users’ quality of living. We find that while Ambient Intelligence systems in the Asian context do produce localised peculiarities as a response to environmental and socioeconomic changes in China, commercial collaboration with the West may result in greater uniformity in localisedAmI technology. Furthermore, we see potential challenges producers may face where aesthetic intelligence is concerned despite being able to address crucial functions favored by the emerging urban middle class in China – an influential demography in the global consumer market in future years. 2. Aesthetic intelligence While this paper aims to ask how cultural, social and environmental factors do determine the evolution of Ambient Intelligence in different parts of the world [6], we also wish to understand this phenomenon through the angle of aesthetic intelligence. To broadly understand how aesthetic intelligence effects local ambient technologies, one should take into account how ambient technology “should look like, how it should appear and whether it should appear at all” [2]. The notion of user-centered design becomes extremely fundamental in understanding how users can interact comfortably with the presence of home automation technology in domestic spaces [5]. Röcker and Kasugai [3] highlight how “ambient displays” emphasize the subtle visualization of data instead of relying on conventional, largely visible methodologies. They also emphasize on the importance of “abstraction” to assist users’ reception of data and how they should be read easier [3]. To further add, Plewe [12] provides a methodology on how aesthetic intelligence can be assessed with what she conceptualizes as “strategic media”. Strategic media integrate “aspirational, executional/transactional and epic aspects representing intentions, functionalities critical to implementation and long term monitoring and feedback” [12]. What we observe are underlying trends in aesthetic intelligence are the insistence on intuitiveness, non-pervasiveness, as well as minimal visualization of data. While such aspects are undeniably integral to creating ambient technology and more specifically, aesthetic intelligence in particular cultures and geographies [6], more research is required with regards to how aesthetic intelligence is being practiced in Chinese ambient technology. 3. Comparing Western and Eastern approaches to AmI In this paper, we will be comparing Western versus Asian culture to understand how cultural norms and environmental influences have effect on Indoor and Outdoor Automation technologies in China. In choosing these dimensions, we hope to ask in our comparative analysis if AmI has been localised in China and if so, to what de-
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gree. We also hope to uncover the challenges faced by these technology and to look beyond these dimensions to see what other influences exist to determine the localization of AmI in China. We observe differences in attitudes towards multitasking and environmental consciousness indicating that economic development is and was central in Chinese culture. This does not mean that environmental consciousness and efficiency is not important in Western cultures. Rather, it highlights the contrasts in sociopolitical histories in countries such as United States and China which shape their sociocultural values and guide the ways products are being designed. Where economic development is prized over other factors, we can ask from our dimensions of analysis: How does the rising urban middle-class engage with ambient intelligence to be emotionally assured when conforming to the economic-centric culture China is in today? Do an emphasis on efficiency in ambient intelligence compromised the period of use of Smart technology? How does rising environmental consciousness reconfigure AmI technology as a tool of assurance in the increasingly industrialized yet largely polluted China? It is also important that we see how these dimensions of analysis – efficiency and environmental consciousness – shapes the design of these Smart technologies to trigger and stimulate certain emotions in their users. These emotions are revealing of how the users in China are adapting or are influenced by the current socioeconomic context of China – urbanisation and growing middle-class – where the most prominent stimulated emotion is a sense of assurance [4]. We see how assurance is related to the emotion of trust where “usage intention” of the technology plays a significant role in the creation and design of Smart homes and environments [13]. In this paper, we will see how a sense of assurance achieved in the usage of both indoor and outdoor AmI technology is a reflection of the cultural and economic context Chinese people are situated in today. Although Western and Eastern cultures are different, ambient intelligence in both the West and East have similar approach and outlook to safety of users. While it is useful to point out the diversity within “Western” and “Eastern” cultures, we wish to focus on the differences of ambient intelligence and the emotional results of using Smart Technology in China. These key differences will guide us in understanding the role of AmI Technology within the East. 3.1. Similarities in ambient intelligence Both Western and Eastern Ambient intelligence have similar outlook and approaches on assuring the safety of their technology for users. In terms of safety and security of users, most home automation technology invest on providing real-time camera display, automated alarm systems and other forms of alert systems. Both Western and Eastern home automation technologies have designed a “Vacation Mode” for users [20, 21]. Other functions and applications also include installing IP cameras and having access to real-time situation at home through mobile application and other WiFi connected devices [20, 21]. A similar perspective shared among Western and Eastern home automation technologies towards a convenient user experience is achieved through data visualization. The emphasis on data collection [4] also relates to the ability for Chinese ambient intelligence to visualize period-based epic data. Most home automation technologies in the West and East collect data to be projected in visual manners such as home automation applications re-enacting realtime weather conditions through animation and symbols [4]. Users’ settings for temperature and humidity are also recorded, learned and displayed in various formats such as barcharts, piecharts and other model-based data visualization in Western and Eastern Smart devices and appliances. Since the projection of collected data is abstracted and displayed minimally, the rules of an ambient display is achieved. 3.2. Differences in ambient intelligence 3.2.1. Efficiency We observe a phenomenon in Asian cultures which we will call “hypermultitasking”. The phenomenon of hypermultitasking is evident in Chinese home automation technology – reliance on a single mobile application to perform several other unrelated functions besides remote control of Smart appliances – which highlights the
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importance of multitasking and thus, efficiency in Chinese culture. To talk about hypermultitasking is to describe how multitasking is emphasized, exaggerated, and dramatized to reduce time and effort or cost lost. Hypertasking is evident in how Chinese users can reduce time and effort lost by using one piece of hardware – mobile phone – to complete several unrelated tasks while controlling several Smart appliances. A variety of studies have shown how users refrain from “needless distractions by dynamic information displays, favoring quiet and elegant peripheral interfaces” [11]. While the mode of using applications on our tablets and smartphones are relatively trendy among Western home automation systems, it is unlikely that individuals from the West will immediately interact with it all the time. The smartphone is reported to be only 46% “within the reach of a user’s arm” in domestic spaces [19] and about 5 seconds before we start interacting with our mobile application [3]. On the contrary, Chinese Smart technology integrating several functions in a single mobile application espouse the significance of efficiency as a sociocultural norm in China. Typically, the integration of multiple functions in a single mobile application used to control Smart home technologies creates disruption in the aesthetics of a seamless interface and smooth user experience. However, the Chinese’s persistence in hypermultitasking only reaffirms the significance of efficiency in the face of China’s socioeconomic boom and exemplifies differing perceptions on work and life balance among Chinese urban middle class. The aesthetics of integrating multiple functions into a single mobile application on one hardware allow us to also question what other kinds of socioeconomic influences and resulting emotional triggers have shaped ambient intelligence design. Users can be assigned job assignments and projects while being engaged in an online payment such as social web messaging application WeChat and electronic mail messaging [27]. For example, the mobile app Laiwang – a themed group chat which allows users to ‘like’ stuff, share content, and comment has been integrated in the same mobile application used to also remote control Smart home technology [22, 23]. As mentioned in the previous paragraph, “Hypermultitasking” is also pursued as the boundary between work and life in the chosen lifestyles of Chinese urban middle class people becomes increasingly blurred. According to Mercer, the Chinese are only given “five vacation days a year” – among the least globally [24]. The sense of assurance derived from optimising work efficiency through multitasking with a single mobile application is potentially large for users with little rest time. Users can multitask with the guided optimization of a single mobile application which assigns work to the user engaged in an online payment and interacting via a social web messaging application, WeChat [23]. The ingrained need to be efficient guides the design of Chinese Smart technologies and provide a sense of assurance to users who premise productivity in performing several interactions including emotionally-invested mediated social interactions at any one time. Reportedly, users spend up to six hours per day on WeChat as it’s the “nexus of their social and work lives as well as their commerce hub” [27]. Being very active mobile users who perform other offline activities online, 500 million Chinese are mobileinternet users [27]. It is no wonder that these supposed integration of disconnected functions may become very helpful in increasing efficiency and performing various tasks simultaneously among the rising urban middle class in China who conceive work and life balance differently from their Western counterparts [28]. The affective usability of using a single mobile application to perform several tasks also suggests that the disruptivity of user experience in Smart phone interaction differs in East than that of the West [6, 7]. Recall the earlier explainations of how positive user experiences are achieved in Western AmI technology through the seamlessness of performing a “primary task” and the irregular usage of mobile phones when working in different workspaces [2, 11].The Western aesthetics of designing less pervasive Ambient Intelligence is thus, subverted by the simultaneous disruption of other functions offered by a single mobile application used to control Smart indoor environment technology in China. 3.2.2. Environmental consciousness The emotional value of assurance derived from the design of affordable Chinese indoor and outdoor Smart technology to regulate harmful air particles highlights China’s environmental problem in the recent years [16][17]. In the next two sub-sections, we will explain how the role of ambient intelligence have specific features which addressed the citizen and state’s increasing concerns over the detrimental environmental conditions in China. In-House Pollution. Other than the recent developments in creating a Smart City in Zhenjiang, China [13], the “Internet of Things” provides a potential market for China to compete with developed countries and to also address the impact of being the world’s largest energy consumer in 2009 [14]. Smart home technologies can assist in the regulation of in-house air pollution, a significant environmental problem in recent years. Air quality (PM2.5 and
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volatile organic compound [VOC]) detection is especially important when air pollution is quoted as contributing to “1.2 million premature deaths” in China in 2010 [26]. The youngest lung patient is an 8-year-old girl from Jiangsu Province whose illness is attributed to derive from air pollution [26]. Such stark statistics suggest that there is a particular environmental context which may have resulted in localised Smart home technology in China. A handful of Chinese Smart home technology is equipped with the ability to detect air quality through temperature, humidity and most peculiarly, PM2.5 sensors [21]. Although it is similar to Western automated air quality indicator technology in terms of features such as built-in temperature and humidity sensors, Chinese home automation technology possess the unique built-in PM2.5 and VOC sensors. What allows us to further suggest that this is a form of localisedAmI is the shift from rural to urban environmental movements, indicating an emerging consciousness and concern among urbanities of their demise living environment. Where life expectancy is threatened, Chinese Smart home technology with air quality indicators represent urbanites’ assurance in being able to monitor and regulate in-House pollution. External Pollution and Waste. A World Bank report states that China tops the US as the world’s largest producer of waste in 2004 [31].With infrastructural limitations and accelerated urbanisation, many cities have nearly-full landfills and finding new land to house waste becomes increasingly impossible [16]. The smell of the rancid waste from landfills as well as waste transfer stations, smoke gas and the consequent PM 2.5 generated by garbage burning degrade the quality of air in China. Only one percent of China’s urban population lives in cities which met the European Union’s air quality standard of 40 g/m3 [15]. What remains pressing for China to address is the ruralurban migration of 100 million residents and its impact on energy consumption [13]. In 2013, a period of smog has resulted in a “concentration of hazardous particles” forty times the level deemed safe by the World Health Organization [26]. China’s extensive population growth will not only result in greater waste production and air pollution but also a lack of affordable housing and traffic congestion. Intelligent environments funded by the Chinese government can support vulnerable citizens such as elderly and disabled persons and their mobility and safety in the city [7]. With the Chinese government’s implementation of the Smart grid technology [13], the next three years will see China’s attention towards “Smart grid, Smart home, digital city, Smart healthcare and vehicle sensors” with an expected market of US 480 billion [29]. What is peculiar about Chinese Smart grid technology is how much more affordable these technology will be as compared to other regions. Falling under the Chinese’s government’s Smart grid plans to reduce carbon emissions is the Smart meter initiative. According to ResearchInChina, more affordable Chinese Smart meters priced at $50 per piece and even lesser for “mass-market residential units” can be contrast with the minimally, $150 Smart meters in North America and $100 European Smart meter projects [26]. The relatively high level of savings rate among Chinese consumers are further encouraged by two main reasons – “health care” and “retirement” and this will savings on consumption have remained high [28]. However, such cheap prices also tally with the lifespan of these Smart meters – an expected lifetime of 7 to 10 years as compared to other regions’ 10 to 25 years [29]. While such affordability will increase greater access to utilities and industrial consumers who will mass purchase, it might not possibly alleviate the insurmountable amount of waste with the disposal of old Smart meters. What is persuasive as being deeply embedded in the shortsightedness of China’s Smart meter implementation is the ingrained local sociocultural values in policies. The way of understanding how Eastern cultures differ from Western cultures is how the environment is affected by contemporary and historical Chinese political leaders who have employed polices inseparable from their local sociocultural values to economically develop their own countries [25]. China’s “Confucian roots” encouraged policies that saw man's use of nature as fundamental thus, “hindering the development of a conservation ethos” [25]. Thus, the great challenge for external pollution and waste management is for the Chinese government to understand that quality should not decrease with price and if so, how should these Smart technologies become sustainable. 4. Further questions for research Throughout most of our findings, a recurring pattern between urban middle class and localization of Smart technology emerges. We realised that most of the potential agents which take part in consuming or inevitably, promoting the growth of the Smart home industry in China are the emerging middle class who is unusually young
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and possess great spending power. A research conducted by McKinsey Quarterly shows that by 2025, the demography of the empowered, emergent urban middle class – a result of China’s socioeconomic boom – will make up one of the “largest consumer markets in the world” who will spend almost as much as the whole of Japanese households today [28]. Will the demography of agents most influential in localizing ambient intelligence and aesthetic intelligence be the emergent middle class in China? Nonetheless, with the greater number of clean technology partnerships conducted between United States and China, one can expect that most of these localized Smart grid technologies will also be sold on the global market and be effectively evolved by the market forces of demand and supply. 5. Conclusion Although there remains strong similarities between Ambient Intelligence and particularly automation technology between Western and Eastern cultures, there are a few key differences which allow us to explore the idea of localised Ambient and Aesthetic Intelligence. We hypothesize that while Ambient Intelligence systems in the Asian context do produce localised peculiarities as a response to environmental and socioeconomic changes in China, commercial collaboration with the West may result in greater uniformity in localised Ambient Technology. Furthermore, we see potential challenges producers may face where aesthetic intelligence is concerned despite being able to address crucial functions favored by the emerging urban middle class in China – an influential demography in the global consumer market in future years. These questions and preliminary observations we put forward will be particularly useful for researchers, potential markets and clients interested in the development of Internet of Things and Ambient Intelligence applications in geographies outside of the West. More academic work should also be conducted to understand how far the emerging urban Chinese middle class will influence the market of Smart Technology towards achieving more environmentally-friendly applications. The demographic factor may be much more powerful in terms of determining the fate of Smart Technology in China, a prediction that is hardly discussed due to space constraint in this paper. While our analysis shows that the several factors we have listed are fundamental to highlight how localization may have possibly occurred in Ambient Technology and Aesthetic Intelligence in China, it might be possible that such peculiarities may no longer be as prevailing with the influence of market forces. It may also be true that the uniformity of Ambient Intelligence and Aesthetic intelligence may be much more prominent than the dissonances between Western and Eastern Smart Technology.
References [1] Röcker, C., Kasugai, K., Plewe, D., Kiriyama, T., Rozendaal, M. (2013). When Design Meets Intelligence: Incorporating Aesthetic Intelligence in Smart Spaces. In: C. Augusto et al. (Eds.): AmI 2013, LNCS 8309, Springer International Publishing Switzerland, pp. 307308. [2] Kasugai, K., Röcker, C. (2013). Computer-Mediated Human Architecture Interaction. In: M. J. O’Grady, H. Vahdat-Nejad, K.-H. Wolf, M. Dragone, J. Ye, C. Röcker, G. O’Hare (Eds.): Evolving Ambient Intelligence, CCIS 413, Springer International Publishing Switzerland, pp. 213 - 216. [3] Röcker, C., Kasugai, K., Plewe, D. A., Kiriyama, T., Lugmayr, A. (2012). Aesthetic Intelligence: The Role of Design in Ambient Intelligence. In: F. Paterno, B. de Ruyter, P. Markopoulos, C. Santoro, E. van Loenen, K. Luyten (Eds.): Ambient Intelligence, LNCS 7683, Springer, Heidelberg, Germany, pp. 445-446. [4] Kasugai, K., Röcker, C.,Plewe, D.,Kiriyama, T., Oksman, V. (2012) Aesthetic Intelligence – Concepts, Technologies and Applications. AmI 2011 Workshops CCIS 277. R. Wichert, K. Van Laerhoven, J. Gelissen (Eds.). Springer, Heidelberg, Germany, pp. 1-4. [5] Röcker, C. (2013). User-Centered Design of Intelligent Environments: Requirements for Designing Successful Ambient Assisted Living Systems. In: Proceedings of the Central European Conference of Information and Intelligent Systems (CECIIS'13), September 18-20, Varazdin, Croatia, pp. 4 - 11. [6] Röcker, C., Ziefle, M., Holzinger, A. (2014). From Computer Innovation to Human Integration: Current Trends and Challenges for Pervasive Health Technologies. In: A. Holzinger, M. Ziefle, C. Röcker (Eds.): Pervasive Health - State-of-the-Art and Beyond. Springer, London, UK, pp. 1 - 17. [7] Röcker, C., Ziefle, M. (2012). Current Approaches to Ambient Assisted Living. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Future Information Technology and Management Science & Engineering (FITMSE'12), April 12-13, 2012, Hong Kong, Lecture Notes in Information Technology, Volume 14, IERI Press, pp. 6-14.
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[8] Neiger, C. (2014). 1 Thing That Could Derail Apple's HomeKit Plans. The Motley Fool. http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/07/06/1-thing-that-could-derail-apples-homekit-plans.aspx. Accessed 20 July 2014 [9] Röcker, C., Kasugai, K. (2012). Interactive Architecture in Domestic Spaces. In: R. Wichert, K. Van Laerhoven, J. Gelissen (Eds.):AmI 2011 Workshops CCIS 277. pp. 12-18, 2012.© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2012. [10] Röcker, C. (2012). Universal Access to Awareness Information: Using Smart Artefacts to Mediate Awareness in Distributed Teams. In: Universal Access in the Information Society, Vol. 11, No. 3, Springer, Heidelberg, Germany, pp. 259-271. [11] Plewe, Daniela Alina (2012) Towards Strategic Media. AmI 2011 Workshops CCIS 277. R. Wichert, K. Van Laerhoven, J. Gelissen (Eds.) 19-24, 2012.© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2012 [12] Sack, O., Röcker, C. (2014). “Like a Family Member Who Takes Care of Me” Users’ Anthropomorphic Representations and Trustworthiness of Smart Home Environments. In: International Journal of Virtual Worlds and Human-Computer Interaction, Vol.2, pp. 28 – 36. [13] Johnson, Don (2014) Smart City Development in China. China Business Review, Washington, DC. [14] Jing Yang (2011) China's Energy Consumption Rises. The Wall Street Journal, New York. [15] Zheng, Siqi and Khan, Matthew E. (2013) Understanding China’s Urban Pollution Dynamics. Journal of Economic Literature, 51(3), pp. 731–772. [16] Graeme Lang, Ying Xu (2013) Anti-incinerator campaigns and the evolution of protest politics in China. Environmental Politics, Vol. 22, No. 5, pp. 832–848. [17] Lee, Emma (2014) Alibaba Partners with Home Appliance Maker MideaTo Release Smart Air Conditioner That Can be Controlled on Laiwang. TechNode, China. [18] K. Dey, K. Wac, D. Ferreira, K. Tassini, J.-H. Hong, and J. Ramos (2011) Getting closer: an empirical investigation of the proximity of user to their Smart phones. Ubicomp, pp. 163–172. [19] D. L. Ashbrook, J. R. Clawson, K. Lyons, T. E. Starner, and N. Patel (2008) Quickdraw: the impact of mobility and on-body placement on device access time. Proceedings of SIGCHI conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), pp. 219–222. [20] Belkin (2014). Belkin WeMo.BelkinInternational,Inc., California. [21] Revolv (2014). Revolv Homepage. Revolv Inc., Boulder, CO. [22] Chen Jing (2014).Midea joins Alibaba in digging "big data", China Economic Net,China. [23] Horwitz, Josh (2014). Facing competition from WeChat, Alibaba’s chat app has turned its focus away from messaging.TechinAsia, Singapore. [24] TODAYonline (2013). The work-life balance dilemma in China. TODAY online, Singapore. [25] Xu, Beina. (2014). China’s Environmental Crisis. Council on Foreign Relations, New York. [26] John, Jeff St. (2013). Some Snapshots of China’s Smart Grid. Greentech Media, Boston. [27] Gowrappan, Guru (2014). China’s Innovation Has Outstripped Its ‘Follow Fast’ Reputation. WIRED, New York. [28] Farrell, Diana, Gersch, Ulrich A., Stephenson, Elizabeth (2006). The value of China’s emerging middle class. The McKinsey Quarterly 2006 special edition: Serving the Chinese consumer, pp. 60–69. [29] Booth, Adrian, Demirdoven, Nuri, Tai, Humayan (2010). The Smart grid opportunity for solutions provider. McKinsey on Smart Grid Summer 2010, pp. 45- 52 [30] IOTE (2015). The 7th China International Internet of Things Technologies and Application Exhibition 2015. Shenzhen U-Link Media Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, Guangdong. [31] Delvoie, Christian and Plessis-Fraissar, Maryvonne. Foreword in Urban Development Working Papers, East Asia Infrastructure Department World Bank. Working Paper No. 9. pp. iii.
ScienceDirect Procedia Manufacturing 3 (2015) 2155 – 2161
6th International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics (AHFE 2015) and the Affiliated Conferences, AHFE 2015
The ambience of ambient intelligence: An Asian approach to ambient systems? Cindy Lin Kaiyinga, Daniela Alina Plewea, Carsten Röckerb, * a National University of Singapore, Singapore Ostwestfalen-Lippe UAS &Fraunhofer IOSB-INA, Lemgo, Germany
b
Abstract Most research in the field of ambient technology has been conducted in Western cultural spheres. In this paper, we want to explore potential approaches designers might take towards ambient systems in Asian contexts. We particularly aim at exploring the role of “ambience” in the development of such systems and analyzing how aesthetic factors vary depending on culture. We observed that efficiency and environmental factors influence design decisions and serve as feedback on smart technologies. © 2015 2015 The B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license © The Authors. Authors.Published PublishedbybyElsevier Elsevier B.V. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer-review under responsibility of AHFE Conference. Peer-review under responsibility of AHFE Conference
Keywords:Aesthetic intelligence; Ambient intelligence; Smart home; Assurance; China
1. Introduction Most research in the field of ambient intelligence (AmI) technology has been conducted and constructed with relation to “Western” cultural spheres. From China, we want to ask if and how does the broader environment affects the evolution of ambient intelligent systems. In other words, what role does the “ambience of Ambient Intelligence” play in the development of the field and how do aesthetic factors as introduced under Aesthetic Intelligence (see, e.g., [1], [2] [3] [4] or [9]) vary depending on culture? We observe that efficiency and environmental factors influence and serve as feedback on Smart technologies. This feedback shapes the design of these Smart technologies
* Corresponding author. E-mail address:[email protected]
2351-9789 © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer-review under responsibility of AHFE Conference doi:10.1016/j.promfg.2015.07.355
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Cindy Lin Kaiying et al. / Procedia Manufacturing 3 (2015) 2155 – 2161
to trigger and stimulate certain emotions in their users. These emotions are revealing of how users in China are adapting or are influenced by the current socioeconomic context of China – urbanisation and growing middle-class – where the most prominent stimulated emotion is a sense of assurance [28]. In this paper, we want to explore how efficiency and environmental factors shape the design and emotional outputs of Chinese Smart technologies. From efficiency, we observe a phenomenon in Asian cultures which we will call “hypermultitasking”. The phenomenon of hypermultitasking is evident in Chinese home automation technology – reliance on a single mobile application to perform several other unrelated functions besides remote control of Smart appliances – which highlights the importance of multitasking and thus, efficiency in Chinese culture. The culture of efficiency feeds into the aesthetics of Chinese Smart technologies, assuring users of their productivity derived from the ability to perform multiple tasks including emotionally-invested mediated social interactions. Where environmental factor is concerned, the emotional requirement in the design of Chinese Smart home technology is primarily, in its ability to assure users of their ability to regulate in-house air pollution, a significant environmental problem in recent years [15][16]. The increasing anxiety and concern for both indoor and outdoor environmental safety have produced technology with peculiar features to arouse particular emotional results among users in China. Providing emotional support by increasing the assurance users can have in their ability to survey and monitor the invisible toxic surroundings, AmI technology is not only a tool of assurance but more impactfully, support in times of disaster and emergency. We hope to demonstrate what may qualify as an Asian approach to creating emotionally stimulating ambient intelligences and also describe how aesthetic intelligence is being played out in Asian societies to increase users’ quality of living. We find that while Ambient Intelligence systems in the Asian context do produce localised peculiarities as a response to environmental and socioeconomic changes in China, commercial collaboration with the West may result in greater uniformity in localisedAmI technology. Furthermore, we see potential challenges producers may face where aesthetic intelligence is concerned despite being able to address crucial functions favored by the emerging urban middle class in China – an influential demography in the global consumer market in future years. 2. Aesthetic intelligence While this paper aims to ask how cultural, social and environmental factors do determine the evolution of Ambient Intelligence in different parts of the world [6], we also wish to understand this phenomenon through the angle of aesthetic intelligence. To broadly understand how aesthetic intelligence effects local ambient technologies, one should take into account how ambient technology “should look like, how it should appear and whether it should appear at all” [2]. The notion of user-centered design becomes extremely fundamental in understanding how users can interact comfortably with the presence of home automation technology in domestic spaces [5]. Röcker and Kasugai [3] highlight how “ambient displays” emphasize the subtle visualization of data instead of relying on conventional, largely visible methodologies. They also emphasize on the importance of “abstraction” to assist users’ reception of data and how they should be read easier [3]. To further add, Plewe [12] provides a methodology on how aesthetic intelligence can be assessed with what she conceptualizes as “strategic media”. Strategic media integrate “aspirational, executional/transactional and epic aspects representing intentions, functionalities critical to implementation and long term monitoring and feedback” [12]. What we observe are underlying trends in aesthetic intelligence are the insistence on intuitiveness, non-pervasiveness, as well as minimal visualization of data. While such aspects are undeniably integral to creating ambient technology and more specifically, aesthetic intelligence in particular cultures and geographies [6], more research is required with regards to how aesthetic intelligence is being practiced in Chinese ambient technology. 3. Comparing Western and Eastern approaches to AmI In this paper, we will be comparing Western versus Asian culture to understand how cultural norms and environmental influences have effect on Indoor and Outdoor Automation technologies in China. In choosing these dimensions, we hope to ask in our comparative analysis if AmI has been localised in China and if so, to what de-
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gree. We also hope to uncover the challenges faced by these technology and to look beyond these dimensions to see what other influences exist to determine the localization of AmI in China. We observe differences in attitudes towards multitasking and environmental consciousness indicating that economic development is and was central in Chinese culture. This does not mean that environmental consciousness and efficiency is not important in Western cultures. Rather, it highlights the contrasts in sociopolitical histories in countries such as United States and China which shape their sociocultural values and guide the ways products are being designed. Where economic development is prized over other factors, we can ask from our dimensions of analysis: How does the rising urban middle-class engage with ambient intelligence to be emotionally assured when conforming to the economic-centric culture China is in today? Do an emphasis on efficiency in ambient intelligence compromised the period of use of Smart technology? How does rising environmental consciousness reconfigure AmI technology as a tool of assurance in the increasingly industrialized yet largely polluted China? It is also important that we see how these dimensions of analysis – efficiency and environmental consciousness – shapes the design of these Smart technologies to trigger and stimulate certain emotions in their users. These emotions are revealing of how the users in China are adapting or are influenced by the current socioeconomic context of China – urbanisation and growing middle-class – where the most prominent stimulated emotion is a sense of assurance [4]. We see how assurance is related to the emotion of trust where “usage intention” of the technology plays a significant role in the creation and design of Smart homes and environments [13]. In this paper, we will see how a sense of assurance achieved in the usage of both indoor and outdoor AmI technology is a reflection of the cultural and economic context Chinese people are situated in today. Although Western and Eastern cultures are different, ambient intelligence in both the West and East have similar approach and outlook to safety of users. While it is useful to point out the diversity within “Western” and “Eastern” cultures, we wish to focus on the differences of ambient intelligence and the emotional results of using Smart Technology in China. These key differences will guide us in understanding the role of AmI Technology within the East. 3.1. Similarities in ambient intelligence Both Western and Eastern Ambient intelligence have similar outlook and approaches on assuring the safety of their technology for users. In terms of safety and security of users, most home automation technology invest on providing real-time camera display, automated alarm systems and other forms of alert systems. Both Western and Eastern home automation technologies have designed a “Vacation Mode” for users [20, 21]. Other functions and applications also include installing IP cameras and having access to real-time situation at home through mobile application and other WiFi connected devices [20, 21]. A similar perspective shared among Western and Eastern home automation technologies towards a convenient user experience is achieved through data visualization. The emphasis on data collection [4] also relates to the ability for Chinese ambient intelligence to visualize period-based epic data. Most home automation technologies in the West and East collect data to be projected in visual manners such as home automation applications re-enacting realtime weather conditions through animation and symbols [4]. Users’ settings for temperature and humidity are also recorded, learned and displayed in various formats such as barcharts, piecharts and other model-based data visualization in Western and Eastern Smart devices and appliances. Since the projection of collected data is abstracted and displayed minimally, the rules of an ambient display is achieved. 3.2. Differences in ambient intelligence 3.2.1. Efficiency We observe a phenomenon in Asian cultures which we will call “hypermultitasking”. The phenomenon of hypermultitasking is evident in Chinese home automation technology – reliance on a single mobile application to perform several other unrelated functions besides remote control of Smart appliances – which highlights the
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importance of multitasking and thus, efficiency in Chinese culture. To talk about hypermultitasking is to describe how multitasking is emphasized, exaggerated, and dramatized to reduce time and effort or cost lost. Hypertasking is evident in how Chinese users can reduce time and effort lost by using one piece of hardware – mobile phone – to complete several unrelated tasks while controlling several Smart appliances. A variety of studies have shown how users refrain from “needless distractions by dynamic information displays, favoring quiet and elegant peripheral interfaces” [11]. While the mode of using applications on our tablets and smartphones are relatively trendy among Western home automation systems, it is unlikely that individuals from the West will immediately interact with it all the time. The smartphone is reported to be only 46% “within the reach of a user’s arm” in domestic spaces [19] and about 5 seconds before we start interacting with our mobile application [3]. On the contrary, Chinese Smart technology integrating several functions in a single mobile application espouse the significance of efficiency as a sociocultural norm in China. Typically, the integration of multiple functions in a single mobile application used to control Smart home technologies creates disruption in the aesthetics of a seamless interface and smooth user experience. However, the Chinese’s persistence in hypermultitasking only reaffirms the significance of efficiency in the face of China’s socioeconomic boom and exemplifies differing perceptions on work and life balance among Chinese urban middle class. The aesthetics of integrating multiple functions into a single mobile application on one hardware allow us to also question what other kinds of socioeconomic influences and resulting emotional triggers have shaped ambient intelligence design. Users can be assigned job assignments and projects while being engaged in an online payment such as social web messaging application WeChat and electronic mail messaging [27]. For example, the mobile app Laiwang – a themed group chat which allows users to ‘like’ stuff, share content, and comment has been integrated in the same mobile application used to also remote control Smart home technology [22, 23]. As mentioned in the previous paragraph, “Hypermultitasking” is also pursued as the boundary between work and life in the chosen lifestyles of Chinese urban middle class people becomes increasingly blurred. According to Mercer, the Chinese are only given “five vacation days a year” – among the least globally [24]. The sense of assurance derived from optimising work efficiency through multitasking with a single mobile application is potentially large for users with little rest time. Users can multitask with the guided optimization of a single mobile application which assigns work to the user engaged in an online payment and interacting via a social web messaging application, WeChat [23]. The ingrained need to be efficient guides the design of Chinese Smart technologies and provide a sense of assurance to users who premise productivity in performing several interactions including emotionally-invested mediated social interactions at any one time. Reportedly, users spend up to six hours per day on WeChat as it’s the “nexus of their social and work lives as well as their commerce hub” [27]. Being very active mobile users who perform other offline activities online, 500 million Chinese are mobileinternet users [27]. It is no wonder that these supposed integration of disconnected functions may become very helpful in increasing efficiency and performing various tasks simultaneously among the rising urban middle class in China who conceive work and life balance differently from their Western counterparts [28]. The affective usability of using a single mobile application to perform several tasks also suggests that the disruptivity of user experience in Smart phone interaction differs in East than that of the West [6, 7]. Recall the earlier explainations of how positive user experiences are achieved in Western AmI technology through the seamlessness of performing a “primary task” and the irregular usage of mobile phones when working in different workspaces [2, 11].The Western aesthetics of designing less pervasive Ambient Intelligence is thus, subverted by the simultaneous disruption of other functions offered by a single mobile application used to control Smart indoor environment technology in China. 3.2.2. Environmental consciousness The emotional value of assurance derived from the design of affordable Chinese indoor and outdoor Smart technology to regulate harmful air particles highlights China’s environmental problem in the recent years [16][17]. In the next two sub-sections, we will explain how the role of ambient intelligence have specific features which addressed the citizen and state’s increasing concerns over the detrimental environmental conditions in China. In-House Pollution. Other than the recent developments in creating a Smart City in Zhenjiang, China [13], the “Internet of Things” provides a potential market for China to compete with developed countries and to also address the impact of being the world’s largest energy consumer in 2009 [14]. Smart home technologies can assist in the regulation of in-house air pollution, a significant environmental problem in recent years. Air quality (PM2.5 and
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volatile organic compound [VOC]) detection is especially important when air pollution is quoted as contributing to “1.2 million premature deaths” in China in 2010 [26]. The youngest lung patient is an 8-year-old girl from Jiangsu Province whose illness is attributed to derive from air pollution [26]. Such stark statistics suggest that there is a particular environmental context which may have resulted in localised Smart home technology in China. A handful of Chinese Smart home technology is equipped with the ability to detect air quality through temperature, humidity and most peculiarly, PM2.5 sensors [21]. Although it is similar to Western automated air quality indicator technology in terms of features such as built-in temperature and humidity sensors, Chinese home automation technology possess the unique built-in PM2.5 and VOC sensors. What allows us to further suggest that this is a form of localisedAmI is the shift from rural to urban environmental movements, indicating an emerging consciousness and concern among urbanities of their demise living environment. Where life expectancy is threatened, Chinese Smart home technology with air quality indicators represent urbanites’ assurance in being able to monitor and regulate in-House pollution. External Pollution and Waste. A World Bank report states that China tops the US as the world’s largest producer of waste in 2004 [31].With infrastructural limitations and accelerated urbanisation, many cities have nearly-full landfills and finding new land to house waste becomes increasingly impossible [16]. The smell of the rancid waste from landfills as well as waste transfer stations, smoke gas and the consequent PM 2.5 generated by garbage burning degrade the quality of air in China. Only one percent of China’s urban population lives in cities which met the European Union’s air quality standard of 40 g/m3 [15]. What remains pressing for China to address is the ruralurban migration of 100 million residents and its impact on energy consumption [13]. In 2013, a period of smog has resulted in a “concentration of hazardous particles” forty times the level deemed safe by the World Health Organization [26]. China’s extensive population growth will not only result in greater waste production and air pollution but also a lack of affordable housing and traffic congestion. Intelligent environments funded by the Chinese government can support vulnerable citizens such as elderly and disabled persons and their mobility and safety in the city [7]. With the Chinese government’s implementation of the Smart grid technology [13], the next three years will see China’s attention towards “Smart grid, Smart home, digital city, Smart healthcare and vehicle sensors” with an expected market of US 480 billion [29]. What is peculiar about Chinese Smart grid technology is how much more affordable these technology will be as compared to other regions. Falling under the Chinese’s government’s Smart grid plans to reduce carbon emissions is the Smart meter initiative. According to ResearchInChina, more affordable Chinese Smart meters priced at $50 per piece and even lesser for “mass-market residential units” can be contrast with the minimally, $150 Smart meters in North America and $100 European Smart meter projects [26]. The relatively high level of savings rate among Chinese consumers are further encouraged by two main reasons – “health care” and “retirement” and this will savings on consumption have remained high [28]. However, such cheap prices also tally with the lifespan of these Smart meters – an expected lifetime of 7 to 10 years as compared to other regions’ 10 to 25 years [29]. While such affordability will increase greater access to utilities and industrial consumers who will mass purchase, it might not possibly alleviate the insurmountable amount of waste with the disposal of old Smart meters. What is persuasive as being deeply embedded in the shortsightedness of China’s Smart meter implementation is the ingrained local sociocultural values in policies. The way of understanding how Eastern cultures differ from Western cultures is how the environment is affected by contemporary and historical Chinese political leaders who have employed polices inseparable from their local sociocultural values to economically develop their own countries [25]. China’s “Confucian roots” encouraged policies that saw man's use of nature as fundamental thus, “hindering the development of a conservation ethos” [25]. Thus, the great challenge for external pollution and waste management is for the Chinese government to understand that quality should not decrease with price and if so, how should these Smart technologies become sustainable. 4. Further questions for research Throughout most of our findings, a recurring pattern between urban middle class and localization of Smart technology emerges. We realised that most of the potential agents which take part in consuming or inevitably, promoting the growth of the Smart home industry in China are the emerging middle class who is unusually young
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and possess great spending power. A research conducted by McKinsey Quarterly shows that by 2025, the demography of the empowered, emergent urban middle class – a result of China’s socioeconomic boom – will make up one of the “largest consumer markets in the world” who will spend almost as much as the whole of Japanese households today [28]. Will the demography of agents most influential in localizing ambient intelligence and aesthetic intelligence be the emergent middle class in China? Nonetheless, with the greater number of clean technology partnerships conducted between United States and China, one can expect that most of these localized Smart grid technologies will also be sold on the global market and be effectively evolved by the market forces of demand and supply. 5. Conclusion Although there remains strong similarities between Ambient Intelligence and particularly automation technology between Western and Eastern cultures, there are a few key differences which allow us to explore the idea of localised Ambient and Aesthetic Intelligence. We hypothesize that while Ambient Intelligence systems in the Asian context do produce localised peculiarities as a response to environmental and socioeconomic changes in China, commercial collaboration with the West may result in greater uniformity in localised Ambient Technology. Furthermore, we see potential challenges producers may face where aesthetic intelligence is concerned despite being able to address crucial functions favored by the emerging urban middle class in China – an influential demography in the global consumer market in future years. These questions and preliminary observations we put forward will be particularly useful for researchers, potential markets and clients interested in the development of Internet of Things and Ambient Intelligence applications in geographies outside of the West. More academic work should also be conducted to understand how far the emerging urban Chinese middle class will influence the market of Smart Technology towards achieving more environmentally-friendly applications. The demographic factor may be much more powerful in terms of determining the fate of Smart Technology in China, a prediction that is hardly discussed due to space constraint in this paper. While our analysis shows that the several factors we have listed are fundamental to highlight how localization may have possibly occurred in Ambient Technology and Aesthetic Intelligence in China, it might be possible that such peculiarities may no longer be as prevailing with the influence of market forces. It may also be true that the uniformity of Ambient Intelligence and Aesthetic intelligence may be much more prominent than the dissonances between Western and Eastern Smart Technology.
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