The document summarizes a talk on technocracy in the domestic space and the "smart home illusion." It discusses how homes have become increasingly electrified over the past century, from electric lights and appliances to smart connected devices. However, these smart homes still consume large amounts of energy and may increase demand. The talk addresses issues like how to encourage energy-efficient behaviors and support research for degrowth while allowing other countries to develop. It questions how to disentangle homes from their inhabitants to make meaningful recommendations and build valid international tools and methods.

1. The Smart Home Illusion
IoT Conference, Bilbao. October 23rd 2019

2. My name is
Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino (@iotwatch on twitter)

3. What I’m working on now
Research for Overlay (ING Labs) & UCL Petras
A new book on corporate innovation cultures

4. What I’m going to talk about
Technocracy in the domestic space
Terraforming the domestic space
What it means for research

5. What I’m going to talk about
Technocracy in the domestic space
Terraforming the domestic space
What it means for research

6. A space electric.
A hundred years since the first electric irons.

7. Electric discoveries.
Joseph Swan for Lord Armstrong in Cragside (patent: 1880)

8. Electric discoveries (marketed).
Edison Christmas lights for the White House (1894)

9. Factory efficiency.
Frederick Taylor ‘s Scientific management (1911), Lillian Gilbreth,
Eadweard Muybridge

10. The (domestic) factory floor.
Christine Frederick, 1912

11. The domestic factory floor (marketed).
Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, 1926

12. The ‘all-electric’ house.
Electric Association for Women Competition, 1920s

13. The ‘all-electric’ house (marketed).
Electric Association for Women showcase, 1935

14. The ‘all-electric’ house (marketed).
GE Theatre & Medallion homes, 1950s

15. Domotics.
‘La domotique’ 1984

16. The ‘smart’ home.
National Home Builders Association, 1987

17. The ‘smart’ home (marketed).

18. *Still using servants.
Servants used to live in the same home, or in the same building, now
they live elsewhere and we may never actually see them.

19. *Still talking about doing more with less.
Minimal home concepts since 1890s

20. *Still at the mercy of real estate realities.
Size of average American home in sq feet based on M.K.Mason (2017)

21. What I’m going to talk about
Technocracy in the domestic space
Terraforming the domestic space
What it means for research

22. Things are always on.
‘Smart TVs’ are always using power and so are our smart devices.

23. Creatures of post-industrial habits.
Demand on the grid increases early in the morning and from 6-9pm.

24. The grid isn’t green.

25. Single? Older? They spend more energy than others.
Older people feel colder and people living on their own
put the washing machine on more often. (Intertek Report, May 2012)

26. Homes leaks energy.
Buildings built after WWII sometimes worst than pre-1919 buildings.

27. Connected devices demand energy.
From phantom to vampire power, our charging cables & transformers are
rarely smart.

28. Web services use up energy constantly.
From music services to servers.

29. Cars will weigh in soon.
An electric vehicle can double energy bills. Smart charging a car at night
will increase night-time demand.

30. What I’m going to talk about
Technocracy in the domestic space
Terraforming the domestic space
What it means for research

31. From behaviour to structure
Energy, energy efficiency, energy loss, energy related behaviours.

32. Social engineering & nudging for good.
How do we encourage people to keep going, to unplug, to contribute to
degrowth while other countries need to contribute more.

33. Supporting government with research.

34. How do you support research for degrowth?
How do we disentangle the home from its
inhabitants to make meaningful
recommendations?
How do we do build tools & methods valid
internationally?

35. Eskerrik asko.
designswarm.com/book
alex@designswarm.com
@iotwatch