Temperature Traces

Our research project is about the future of home energy. Temperature regulation impacts household
energy consumption. However, it is currently approached with uniform solutions, such as setting
one temperature for an entire house with a thermostat. With this exploratory research project,
an alternative approach is proposed. The collective house temperature is broken down into its
small contributors; temperature traces. Based on the qualitative data collected by the cultural
probe kit, our result views the occurrence of temperature traces based on four interconnected
perspectives: location, object, individual, and social perspective. We incorporated the perspectives
into a new approach called Thermal Aware Design Model (TADM) to better assist the design
community. While emphasizing personalized experiences for temperature regulation in communal
living and the collection of qualitative data from the users, TADM simplifies the analysis process
of qualitative data and clarifies the relationship between thermal-related design and the complex
needs of communal living residents.