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Erratic Appliances and Energy Awareness

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Knowledge, Technology & Policy

Abstract

We are exploring how to increase energy awareness through critical interaction design, creating objects that expose issues related to energy consumption in various ways. To draw attention to energy beyond ordinary conceptions as a technical solution in everyday life, we inquire into other ways of relating to energy in design and to uncover the properties of energy as a design material. To learn more about how energy can be made more present in product design, we have been redesigning a series of everyday objects around the theme of ‘erratic appliances’. As household energy consumption increases, these appliances start to behave strangely. The aim was to use designerly and experience-based means to make people aware of their energy consumption instead of measuring energy consumption solely with meters and numeric displays.

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Acknowledgment

The authors would like to thank their colleagues in the Static! program in the Power and RE:FORM studios of the Interactive Institute. The project team for Erratic Appliances includes Anders Ernevi, Margot Jacobs, Andreas Lykke-Olesen, Ulrika Löfgren, Ramia Mazé, Samuel Palm and Johan Redström. This research has been funded by the Swedish Energy Authority (Energimyndigheten or STEM).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Interactive Institute, Isafjordsgatan 22, Box 1197, SE-164 26, Kista, Sweden

    Anders Ernevi, Samuel Palm & Johan Redström

Authors
  1. Anders Ernevi
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  2. Samuel Palm
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  3. Johan Redström
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Johan Redström.

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Ernevi, A., Palm, S. & Redström, J. Erratic Appliances and Energy Awareness. Know Techn Pol 20, 71–78 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12130-007-9007-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12130-007-9007-7

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