Designing Ampul

Abstract

Ampul is a home energy management system (HEMS) designed for the emergent group of home energy prosumers (producers and consumers of energy at home). The innovative visualizations and interactions provided by Ampul offer prosumers timed, situated and appliance specific information on the energy that is produced and consumed. Ampul has been developed by applying in-situ interventions in real homes and Concept House Prototype 1, a home living lab facility located in a neighbourhood in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Residents of the same neighbourhoods were invited to actively collaborate in the design process. Ampul is presented in this section as an inspiring example of how Living Labs methods facilitate the role of future users as active collaborators in gathering insights and experimenting earlier concepts in homes and home living labs.