Designing for the Internet of Things

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how these skills will be translated into situations in which the crowd
is geographically distributed and linked by the Internet remains to be
seen.
Changing Definitions of Space
As interconnected environments become commonplace and our inter-
faces move from H 2 A to H 2 M to M 2 M and beyond to aggregations that
link people and machines and architecture into emerging systems—
H 2 M 2 M 2 A 2 H—we need to consider the meaning inherent in design
decisions. Successful hybrid design demands insight about how peo-
ple interact with space as much as knowledge about digital interfaces.
The connectedness represented by these new models compels design-
ers to understand the simultaneous effects of digital and spatial experi-
ence, to anticipate the effects of design on human, machine, and archi-
tectural contexts. And beyond successful problem solving to achieve
functionality, the designer must consider what conceptual model of the
future community is encoded in the solution.
Hybrid designers will embed architecture with programmable inter-
connected devices and apply knowledge, content, and interpretation
that make interconnectedness meaningful in a social context as well
as practical in a physical context. As increasingly sophisticated systems
of information inherent in social networks are integrated into physical
spaces, interconnected environments will do more than sense the need
for change in environmental controls. Layers of information—virtual
geometry and relevant data—will be interpreted and presented to us
as we scan space with augmented reality devices. When we encounter
architectural elements, we will have the opportunity to unpack history
and connect to counterparts elsewhere in space or time. Upon arriv-
ing at my hotel room for the first time, I look out the window and have
access to digital messages and artifacts left by decades of past occu-
pants, pointing out noteworthy features of the city outside. The win-
dow can inform me of the best approaches to reducing the energy foot-
print during my stay by manipulating the window position, shading,
or reflectivity. But the way this information is positioned relative to the
room will make important statements about the relationship between
these individuals and my occupation of this particular space at this
specific time.