A user-centric design framework for smart built environments: A mixed reality perspective

Abstract

Smart Built Environments (SBEs) empowered by the Internet of Things (IoT) dramatically augment the capabilities of traditional built environments by imbuing everyday objects with computational and communication capabilities. SBEs primarily consist of three types of components: architectural elements, embedded technology (smart objects) and enhanced interaction modalities. As smart objects hold the ability to change the state of the environment, inefficient design of smart configurations can lead to potentially harmful conditions affecting the safety and security of the inhabitants. The interaction scenarios and space use pattern of SBEs are also notably different from traditional built environments. But, to the best of our knowledge, there has been limited work on developing a consolidated design framework addressing the three interdependent SBE elements and evaluating the safety and security of the IoT application environment. We propose an SBE design framework based on the traditional architectural design process. The framework combines the technological aspects of SBEs with the traditional architectural design process while leveraging Building Information Modeling (BIM) and participatory design. We describe a Mixed Reality(MR)-based reference framework implementation that is particularly helpful for representing, visualizing and modeling the vast amount of data, digital components and novel SBE interaction scenarios.