project 2 readout of design

DSDN 112 – Interactional Media – Project 2

My idea is to have a small AI chip that looks like an Arachnid which attaches to the main power supply of the house hold and monitors its use, distribution and other functions fitted to the task of helping to save power.
This chip will come with a special soft ware which can be loaded onto any device with WIFI in order for the AI program to interact with the user and display the information it is gathering. The software will be different for each different AI so as no mixed signals from other programs come up and to also keep all information private from others outside the household.
My first Idea is to have the menu of this program customizable so the user can have it their own way, making it easier to read and use the information readout of power usage. The display of this so far is a basic readout of the house (like a blueprint) which will then be displayed in a red colour scale to show how much power is being used in which areas of the house, percentages will also be shown in this readout but you can choose to disable them.

My target audience for this project design is mainly people who have just bought their first house and need help keeping track of where their power goes but it’s also for anyone with a house (since it connects to the main power system and that would be a bit hard in a flat with more than one person/family in the building) The software may also be a bit hard for older people at first so the audience will most likely be drawn to younger house owners.

Interface Design Concept

I decided to do my concept on photoshop/paint since it would look more profesional and I don't really want to mess it up like last time (my drawing is getting worse and I just don't trust myself to do a good job by hand this time)

Ideas for project

I was watching Star Trek with Mum (like every Sunday) and something hit me for an Idea, having a small chip with a simple AI program which gathers data on your power usage and displays it to you via wireless (expect a Sci Fi to give you an awesome idea an something to do with future power saving devices)

What they had in the power bridge was this little parasitic AI which attached it's self to the main power core and transmitted the data to the enemy giving them the upper hand on what to do to make them use up all their power for Shields. I thought that if it worked for them then why can't I try and design one that will work for us in helping to monitor our own power consumption and placement within the household (my sister's usage will mesure up plenty of proof if it worked)

findings for power diary

I decided to monitor the power consumption of the TV in the lounge since it's the biggest electrical device in the whole house (50" LCD read projection so it must use a lot)
To my surprise however, it used about 5% of the total power in the house (7% including the Sky digital reader - 8.5% including the PS2 when it's on)
My best guess at this time is that since it's the newest TV we have that it was built with power saving in mind and also that most of the power being used must be from other small things that we seem to use allot (my sister for example who uses all the lights in the bathroom, the hair straightener, hair dryer and has her stereo on full as well as her TV at the same time) Unfortunately I cannot monitor anything upstairs since I can't seem to get up there without getting my ear blown off but from the readout I figured out (kind of) from the main power supply in the house, most of the power used is used in the top 2 levels of the house (which means that I use less power than everyone, somehow I feel rather proud of that fact)