Abstract
In this chapter we focus on a specific theme that is central to research on SHTs: control. The potential benefits of SHTs are dependent on householders having more and finer-grained control over their appliances, homes and even their everyday lives and routines. Diving deeper into the qualitative interview material introduced in Chap. 5, we interrogate the many positive and negative ways in which control surfaces as an issue when householders use SHTs. We start by reviewing existing ideas of control in research on SHTs. We identify three distinct meanings of the term control: (i) ‘artefactual’ control which refers to the ability to use SHTs to control technologies and devices around the home; (ii) ‘perceptual’ control which refers to how SHTs impact upon householders’ feelings of control inside their home; and (iii) ‘relational’ control which refers to how SHTs affect householders’ control over their everyday lives, activities and relationships. We then explore how these distinct forms and meanings of control emerged and were experienced by householders in the SHT field trial. We also examine the inter-relationships between these distinct forms of control which can generate both positive and negative feedback loops impacting how householders use SHTs.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Balta-Ozkan N, Davidson R, Bicket M, Whitmarsh L (2013) Social barriers to the adoption of smart homes. Energy Policy 63:363–374
Berg C (1994) A gendered socio-technical construction: the smart house. In: Cockburn C, Furst-Dilic R (eds) Bringing technology home: gender and technology in a changing Europe. Open University Press, Buckingham
Cook DJ (2012) How smart is your home? Science 335(6076):1579–1581
Davidoff S, Lee MK, Yiu C, Zimmerman J, Dey AK (2006) Principles of smart home control. Lect Notes Comput Sci 4206:19–34
Edwards WK, Grinter RE (2001) At home with ubiquitous computing: seven challenges. Lect Notes Comput Sci 2201:256–272
Friedewald M, Da Costa O, Punie Y, Alahuhta P, Heinonen S (2005) Perspectives of ambient intelligence in the home environment. Telematics Inform 22:221–238
Hansen M, Hauge B (2017) Scripting, control, and privacy in domestic smart grid technologies: insights from a Danish pilot study. Energy Res Soc Sci 25:112–123
Koskela T, Väänänen-Vainio-Mattila K (2005) Evolution towards smart home environments: empirical evaluation of three user interfaces. Pers Ubiquit Comput 8:234–240
Lee MK, Davidoff S, Zimmerman J, Dey A (2006) Smart homes, families and control. Research showcase at Carnegie-Mellon University Paper. Human-Computer Interaction Institute, School of Computer Science, Carnegie-Mellon University
Leppanen S, Jokinen M (2003) Daily routines and means of communication in a smart home. In: Harper R (ed) Inside the smart home. Springer-Verlag, London, pp 207–225
Lewis SCR (2012) Energy in the smart home. In: Harper R (ed) The connected home: the future of domestic life. Springer-Verlag, London, pp 281–300
Norman DA (1994) How might people interact with agents. Commun ACM 37:68–71
Nyborg S, Røpke I (2011) Energy impacts of the smart home—conflicting visions. Paper presented at the ECEEE 2011 Summer Study, Toulon, France. 6–11 June 2011
Paetz A-G, Dutschke E, Fichtner W (2012) Smart homes as a means to sustainable energy consumption: a study of consumer perceptions. J Consum Policy 35:23–41
Park SH, Won SH, Lee JB, Kim SW (2003) Smart home—digitally engineered domestic life. Pers Ubiquit Comput 7:189–196
Randall D (2003) Living Inside a smart home: a case study. In: Harper R (ed) Inside the smart home. Springer-Verlag, London, pp 227–246
Richardson HJ (2009) A ‘smart house’ is not a home: the domestication of ICTs. Info Syst Front 11:599–608
Strengers Y (2013) Smart energy technologies in everyday life: smart utopia?. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke
Strengers Y (2015) Smart homes promise to end the ‘wife drought’, but where do women fit in? The Conversation. Available online at: https://theconversation.com/smart-homes-promise-to-end-the-wife-drought-but-where-do-women-fit-in-50976. Last accessed 1 Mar 16
Strengers Y, Morley J, Nicholls L, Hazas M (2016) The hidden energy costs of smart homes. The conversation (12 June 2016) Online at: https://theconversation.com/the-hidden-energy-cost-of-smart-homes-60306
Takayama L, Pantofaru C, Robson D, Soto B, Barry M (2012) Making technology homey: finding sources of satisfaction and meaning in home automation. Paper presented at the Ubicomp 2012, Pittsburgh, USA, 5–8 Sept 2012
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hargreaves, T., Wilson, C. (2017). Control of Smart Home Technologies. In: Smart Homes and Their Users . Human–Computer Interaction Series(). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68018-7_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68018-7_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-68017-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-68018-7
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)