PV-Interfaces: Self-Powered Interfaces and Interactions via Photovoltaic Surfaces

我们居住和通过的地方--我们的家、车站、咖啡馆、办公室等--将越来越多地嵌入物联网(IoT)设备。这些将使我们能够获得内容、交流、感知和调整我们的环境，等等。虽然这是一个令人信服(而且非常有用)的未来愿景，但它带来的能源需求是巨大的。此外，我们可能会用过多的数字设备把我们的物理环境搞得一团糟。在‘发达国家’，这些问题将影响我们建筑环境的可持续性和质量。然而，在发展中世界，能源资源限制和物理资源问题意味着，如果没有创新，数十亿人从即将到来的物联网革命中受益的机会将减少。该项目旨在努力捕捉物联网未来的好处，同时使其可持续、令人愉快和普遍可访问。这项工作涉及一个由材料科学家和人机交互研究人员组成的团队，他们与合作伙伴合作，开发一种新形式的物理材料，这种材料可以产生驱动数字接口和交互所需的能量。也就是说，我们将推动开发具有吸引力、扁平和灵活的太阳能收集瓦片(光伏光伏瓦片)，这种瓦片可能包含输入和输出功能，使人们能够与它们和其他连接的设备进行互动。这些瓷砖将能够整合到建筑物(例如，墙壁和地板)和物体(如桌子、衣服和书籍封面)中。这些表面捕捉室内和周围光线的能量，并在同一表面上向用户提供数字显示和界面。为了说明这种可能性，考虑以下四个以用户为中心的场景：1.汤姆在厨房里忙碌。一组互动光伏瓷砖，沿着厨房表面装饰性地安装在墙上，激活以显示一个接近前门的人的剪影。汤姆正在等送货员，于是他对着门牌做了个手势--入口处的送货司机在门牌号PV上看到了一条消息，要求她把包裹放在门廊里。沙尚克走在孟买一个贫民窟狭窄的街道上，当时正值季风雨。他走近一个保护街道免受暴雨侵袭的遮阳篷，并指着一块编织在上面的灵活的互动光伏瓷砖。瓷砖上挂着禁止进入的警告标志，他决定改变方向，以避免走进前方通道的深水中。萨拉为她卧室的墙壁创作了一些互动艺术设计。她把它们发送到她已经安装的Interactive-PV显示瓷砖上，然后享受它们，特别是当它们以个性化的方式向她展示外部天气预报时。她很高兴，虽然它们的工作方式就像LED显示屏，但它们可以运行数年，而不需要外部电源、电池更换或耗费空间的标准光伏电池。索菲亚的裙子上有灵活的Interactive-PV瓷砖设计，她用这些瓷砖通过手势控制音乐播放器或智能手机，并通过电子触觉反馈接收警报。她印象深刻的是，在她离开家的过程中，这个界面在各种环境和光线条件下都能工作，经过地下地铁系统，然后再到一个柔和的灯光酒吧。项目创意和工作本身是与英国和全球行业合作伙伴以及印度的一个中心共同创建的，该中心已经为资源受限的社区提供了40多年的设计见解。

Increasingly, the places we inhabit and move through - our homes, stations, cafes, offices and the like - will have embedded Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices. These will enable us to be provided with content, communicate, have our environments sensed and adjusted, and so on. While this is a compelling (and very useful) future vision, the energy demands it brings are enormous. Furthermore, we risk cluttering up our physical environments with a plethora of digital devices. In the 'developed' world these are problems that will affect sustainability and the quality of our built environments. In the 'developing' world, though, energy resource constraints and physical resource issues means that without innovation, billions of people will have reduced opportunities to benefit from the coming IoT revolution.This project is about trying to capture the benefits of the IoT future while making it sustainable, delightful and universally accessible. The work involves a team of material scientists and human computer interaction researchers, working together with partners to develop a new form of physical material that can generate the power it needs to drive digital interfaces and interactions. That is, we will drive towards attractive, flat and flexible solar energy harvesting tiles (Photovoltaic - PV - tiles), which may incorporate input and output features to enable people to interact with them and other connected devices. These tiles will be able to be integrated into buildings (in walls and floors, for instance) and objects (like tables, clothes and book covers). The surfaces capture the energy from indoor and ambient light and at the same surface can present digital displays and interfaces to the user.To illustrate the possibilities, consider the following four user-centred scenarios:1. Tom is busy in the kitchen. A set of Interactive-PV tiles, built decoratively into the wall along the kitchen surface, activates to show a silhouette of a figure approaching the front door. Tom is waiting for a delivery, so gestures at the tiles - the delivery driver at the entrance is shown a message on the door number PV tile, asking her to leave the parcel in the porch.2. Shashank is walking through the narrow streets of a slum in Mumbai during the monsoon rains. He approaches an awning protecting the street from torrential rain and gestures at a flexible Interactive-PV tile woven into it. The tile displays a no-entry warning sign, and he decides to change direction to avoid walking into a deep flood in the passageway ahead.3. Sarah has created some interactive art designs for her bedroom wall. She sends them to the Interactive-PV display tiles she has had installed, and later enjoys them, especially as they show her the external weather forecast in a personalised way. She's happy that while they work like LED displays, they can operate for years without needing external power, battery changes or space-consuming standard PV cells.4. Sofia has flexible designer Interactive-PV tiles on her dress that she uses to control a music player or smartphone with hand gestures, and to receive alerts via electro-tactile feedback. She's impressed that the interface works in a range of environments and light conditions as she moves from her house, through the underground metro system and later to a mellow lit bar.The project ideas and the work itself as it progresses have been co-created with UK and global industry partners and a centre in India that has over 40 years of providing insights into design for resource-constrained communities.