How smart buildings should communicate with their users was investigated by Khashe, Gratch, Gratch and Becerik-Gerber. They determined that, “People connect better with a computer-generated avatar that represents building management…social banter between machine and people gets better results. The findings underscore how personal connections and social interactions key to human relations also foster cooperation between people and machines…subjects were exposed to an office setting using virtual reality, followed by a real office setting for a smaller group of participants. The researchers crafted pro-environmental messages for a virtual assistant…to ask questions, such as ‘If I open the blinds for you to have natural light, would you please dim or turn off the artificial lights?’…people responded better when Ellie, the virtual human, acted on behalf of the building manager, rather than when she performed as a personification of the building…The scientists noted similar results whether study participants operated in an actual office or virtual reality simulation.” The Khashe lead study was published in the International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction.
“How to Improve Communication Between People and Smart Buildings.” 2019. Press release, University of Southern California, https://news.usc.edu/153526/improving-communication-between-people-and-smart-buildings/
Sally Augustin, PhD,a cognitive scientist, is the editor of Research Design Connections (www.researchdesignconnections.com), a monthly subscription newsletter and free daily blog, where recent and classic research in the social, design, and physical sciences that can inform designers’ work are presented in straightforward language. Readers learn about the latest research findings immediately, before they’re available elsewhere. Sally, who is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, is also the author of Place Advantage: Applied Psychology for Interior Architecture (Wiley, 2009) and, with Cindy Coleman, The Designer’s Guide to Doing Research: Applying Knowledge to Inform Design (Wiley, 2012). She is a principal at Design With Science (www.designwithscience.com) and can be reached at sallyaugustin@designwithscience.com.