Hardware and Systems at the Center for Design Research

On Saturday 2/25/2012 we stopped over at the CDR to take some photos of the current system. Much of the energy data is communicated through varying software platforms on a large touch-screen display located near the lobby/entry area. Some things like the lights and windows are omitted from the touch-screen system and are connected to their own separate controls, my understanding is that even though they do not interface through the touchscreen they still send data to the backbone PC. This lack of consistency makes simple tasks confusing and gives the system integration an unfinished feel. While it's impressive that this building exists with all this great technology and it's certainly efficient, there's a significant usability gap we are hoping to close to provide an enjoyable user experience.

Images of the current systems are below:

We also got a communications map from Justin McGreeney (a former KUArch student who networked and interfaced various systems at the CDR building)- see below:

(click image to enlarge)

In the next blog post I'll be sharing some early interface drawings, also be sure to check out the links and resources section as I've added several new links.