C O N S C I O U S C O N S U M P T I O N T H E O R Y
Visualisation. eXperience. change For more information on research and development please visit:
www.thepowerflower.tumblr.com www.powerflower.co.uk
james DoWDell callum Kiss
taBle of contents
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Visualising Consumption Design Summary Project Partners User Research The Scarlet Hotel Designing the Power Flower Inspired by Nature
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User Feedback How It Works The Design Manufacturing Process Major Two Website Contacts & Suppliers
Depicts one million plastic cups, the number used on airline flights in the US every six hours.
Depicts two million plastic beverage bottles, the number used in the US every five minutes.
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-Background
Visualising consumption
theory of conscious consumption
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We believe that the current rate of consumption all over the world is ultimately unsustainable. We also believe that most of the consumption that takes place is classed as unconscious because people are not aware of their excessive behaviours and do not get to witness the consequences. There is a group of people that believe that bringing our consumption into our consciousness will lead to behavioural change and consumption in a more responsible manor. The idea has been taken forward mainly by photographers and graphic designers who believe visualising our consumption will
create conversations perhaps leading to more sustainable actions. We agree. However we feel that simply starting conversations is not enough. We need to visualise consumption in a more tangible way, that promotes and incentivises sustainable behavioural change. This is an area that is relatively untouched and market that is bound of expand in a future of diminishing resources and increased energy prices. Chris Jordan’s work was a real inspiration in the early stages of this project.
Design summary
the poWer floWer system
The Power Flower is a smart energy meter with a visible difference. The design is based around the basic principles of the life and form of a flower. The big difference being that instead of water and sunlight, the health of the Power Flower is affected by the consumption of energy in the home. The design is somewhat unorthodox when compared to an actual flower, however we felt that the finished look of the design was completely down to us, as this is something that has never really been done before. We therefore had complete control in making the
design functional and beautiful. The basic principle of the design is that as energy is used in the home, it is recorded by the Power Flower and stored as data. This data then determines the form the flower will take. High-energy usage means the flower starts to droop and close up, as if it’s dying. We feel that the use of a physical, tangible object creates a feeling of personal involvement and responsibility of the user to ensure the Power Flower stays healthy. Bringing consumption into plain view is our ultimate goal, but maintaining a high level of clear understanding is crucial for the success of our ideas.
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D e s i g n s u m m a r y -Cont. “
“2 6
million homes Within the uK Will Be fitteD With smart meters oVer the neXt 10 years. Energy Savings Trust, 2012
W h at W e h aV e D e s i g n e D 1
Major One Project. Power Flower research and development, prototyping and testing. Major Two Project. Printable receipt, PF Website and PF prototype Throughout the project we gained a lot through the design process and the time we spent manufacturing prototypes to try and achieve our goal.
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WEEKLY REPORT WEEK BEGINING
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With special thanks to... TM
Concept Shed Sam and Laurence from Concept Shed, have been a great help throughout the project. We were able to ask for advice on specific areas of the design. Their expertise in lighting was of great help when we were deciding the best way of illuminating the Power Flower.
Special thanks have to go to Nick Williams, who works at Newquay-based surf company Seabase. He was extremely helpful when we were trying to manufacture our own fiberglass rod encasing fibre optic cable, something that hasn’t been done before.
Thanks to Ralph Gillet, Sustainable Property Manager, and Claire Beard, Sustainability Manager, who were our contacts at the Scarlet. We met with them and presented our initial ideas and then again once we had developed the concept. It was extremely beneficial to talk with them because the Scarlet would be an ideal client to introduce the Power Flower. 7.
p ro j e c t pa r t n e r s
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We have enjoyed working with James and Cal on the Power Flower project. They have demonstrated a high level of professionalism, with great commitment and communication throughout. I think the boys have seen the benefits of the process of design on this project. We are definitely interested in continuing to work with James and Cal on this over the summer.
Keivor John & Richard Harvey
We were extremely grateful for all the help that Poietic gave us. Having them as our external project partners was a real insight into the design industry, as well as being an invaluable asset in the development of our project. Thanks Keivor and Harvey. 8.
c o l l e c t i V e ly s m a l l B e h aV i o u r a l c h a n g e s h aV e B i g i m pa c t s
ONLY 5% OF THE POWER DRAWN BY A MOBILE PHONE CHARGER IS USED TO CHARGE THE PHONE. THE OTHER 95% IS WASTED WHEN IT IS LEFT PLUGGED INTO THE WALL.
Ideal Bite, 2006
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user research
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INITIAL USER RESEARCH
H I G H L I G H T I N G I S S U E S W I T H E N E R G Y AWA R E N E S S
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In investigating the problems associated with personal awareness of energy consumption in the home, it became clear that the use of visual information was of up most importance. The main problem being, that conventional ways of recording and displaying consumption data is largely dealt with in numbers. The use of numerical information is only effective if it can be displayed in a way that is easily understood. However, there is still the issue of not actually becoming involved with this information in such a way that it would cause a change in behaviour. This initial user research supported our belief that having data displayed in such ways would not promote a conscious
change in making the user more aware of their consumption habits. We therefore decided that our design would be a visual and tangible object, displaying consumption of energy as a negative reaction which would effect the health of an inanimate object, and as such cause a personal desire to behave more responsibly. Because of this, it was important to ensure that the design was strong enough to appeal the majority of the target user group, and make sure that the user would really care that the health of the Power Flower was diminishing, due to their own behaviour. Essentially, if the Power Flower is dying you would want to do something about it.
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puBlic perspectiVe
PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS OF ENERGY
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The project brief was ultimately to visualise energy in a tangible household object. In order to accurately determine and support our own ideas of what energy is, we felt it a necessary stage in the development of the idea to collect a wider knowledge of individual perceptions of what energy means. Having this knowledge would enable us to form a more refined and focused solution, create a far more userfriendly design and end up with a product that fulfils the proposed deliverables to the end user. We were somewhat surprised by the range of different answers to the four questions we asked to a small focus group on their ideas of ‘energy’.
Making decisions on what the energy meter should look like is paramount to the design. Creating an emotional attachment between the product and the user is a highly important feature of the design, the design has to be right to ensure people become more aware of the need to save energy. Pushing for a true emotional reaction to a ‘dying’ light is the whole reason for making it look organic and plant like. Having an informed insight into how individuals relate to the link between human behaviour and nature, ensures we hit the set criteria and deliver a product that adheres to these emotions.
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Claire Beard, Sustainability Manager
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We are really excited by the concept behind the Power Flower. As a new eco hotel we have to cutting edge energy metering technology to help us monitor our footprint, however these are complex machines that our customers don’t always understand. The Power Flower would provide a visual installation that customers can easily interact with and identify with.
D ESIGNING THE PO W ER FLO W ER
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V ISUALISE - D ESIGN - V ISUALISE
D E S I G N I N G F R O M N AT U R A L I N S P R I AT I O N
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In our quest to create a design users will feel personal responsibility to ‘keep healthy’, we started looking at existing designs that already have some form of user interaction associated with them. We knew early on that the design had to be something which people would actually want to own, but something that efficiently provokes a natural reaction of wanting to nurture. Flowers and plants seemed the logical place to start drawing some inspiration from. People take time to look after their plants, so much so that behavioral changes develop to accommodate the needs that they require in order to survive. We
wanted to imitate this feeling in our design and create something that would become daily routine to ensure it remains healthy. We feel that using attribute of a living flower, that when neglected would begin to droop and close up as if it were dying was the perfect way to tie all the aspects of our theory together. The design remains first and foremost a smart energy meter, recording relevant information the user might want to know, but also has the added factor of being a environmental reactant, so much so that it becomes important to take notice of how much energy is being used, so that Power Flower stays healthy.
Throughout the project we visited places such as Falmouth garden centre and the Eden Project. Our goal was to imitate the beauty of nature and the feeling of personal responsibility towards maintaining our product. Drawing from the thousands of different organic structures and forms that a flower can be, gave us free reign to make the Power Flower a truly unique design in both the way it looks and the way it works.
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USER FEE D B AC K
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Throughout the project we kept a constant line of contact with a range of user groups to test our ideas as they progressed. This was important to ensure the message was kept clear and concise and test whether people identified with our concept. We didn’t want to push forward designing something that only appealed to our designing style, so took time to visit the Eden Project and residents of The Scarlet Hotel, to talk to our target audience and make sure we were on track with regards as to what people might actually want to have in their homes. We also used Concept Shed, Poietic and Seabase to further solidify the design principle. Corresponding with the target user group is key because the main design specification of the Power Flower is that it is a desirable object.
Most energy meters are hidden away under the stairs or outside the house. Power flower brings visual information to the users attention and helps to provoke a behavioural change in consumption habits.
C L O S E D L O O P M E T E R I N G S Y S T E M C R E AT I N G M O R E C O N S C I O U S CONSUMPTION OF ENERGY.
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TECHNICAL INFORMATION
HOW YOUR POWER FLOWER WORKS
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The aim of the Power Flower is to bring your personal household energy consumption into consciousness. The drooping action of the supporting arm imitates that of a flower stem as the flower starts to die. Power Flower thrives on low levels of energy use and starts to diminish when this resource is over used. Having this direct link between a smart device and an organic, natural object like a flower is key in promoting the tamagotchi effect where by a feeling of personal responsibility
towards an inanimate mechanical object is created, so that it is of great importance to maintain its health. The data the Power Flower records acts as a supporting feature to the visual metering system. If users need more detailed information on where they can improve on their consumption they can check the Power Flower website, however we feel that the drooping action of the flower is a good indicative of energy use and shows a genuine consequence towards using energy irresponsibly.
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THE D ESIGN
T H E TA M A G O T C H I E F F E C T - P O W E R F L O W E R H E A LT H
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The aim of the Power Flower is to bring your personal household energy consumption into consciousness. The drooping action of the supporting arm imitates that of a flower stem as the flower starts to die. Power Flower thrives on low levels of energy use and starts to diminish when this resource is over used. Having this direct link between a smart device and an organic, natural object like a flower is key in promoting the tamagotchi effect where by a feeling of personal responsibility
towards an inanimate mechanical object is created, so that it is of great importance to maintain its health. The data the Power Flower records acts as a supporting feature to the visual metering system. If users need more detailed information on where they can improve on their consumption they can check the Power Flower website, however we feel that the drooping action of the flower is a good indicative of energy use and shows a genuine consequence towards using energy irresponsibly.
the Design - the stem
V i s ua l e n e r gy m e t e r t h at i s e a s y to u n D e r s ta n D
A key feature of the Power Flower is the unique visual metering guide used to support the flower. As water is pumped though a silicon phloem tube, an indicative marker rises and falls in conjunction with energy use in the home and gives a good indication of the mount of energy being consumed. In periods of high usage the marker within the tube will be extremely high on the scale and vise versa, this gives a little more visual information as the Power Flower begins to droop
and close up under the weight of high energy use. We feel this works well as a stimulus to promote a more aware consumer, drawing inspiration from things such as thermometers, which are instantly recognizable as indicating a level or scale, rather than just using a digital number display. If users wanted more accurate digital data, this information will be recorded and stored, made available though the Power Flower website, as means of monitoring energy usage more closely.
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the Design - the heaD unit
high energy use causes the poWer floWer to close
In conditions when energy use in the home starts to increase to a high level, the stem of the Power Flower begins to droop. The head unit also starts to close up just like petals on a real flower. To achieve this motion of the petals closing up shutting the light out in sync with the drooping motion of the stem, we looked into the use of syringe hydraulics. As energy use increases, a linear actuator is triggered into pushing a liquid though a syringe and tube from the base of the light to the
head unit. The motion of the head unit plunger rising as the liquid pushes it up, creates a very controllable movement, which acts as a lever system to which we have attached pivoting arms. The arms house the petal shapes and as the plunger rises the petals are pulled in and up at a certain angle to block the majority of light emitted by the light source. This system works perfectly as a decrease in energy consumption causes the syringe to push in the opposite direction just as easily.
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5X 100ml Syringe cases with custom plungers LED bulbs incased within custom acrylic plunger
Five 3mm Oak petal slats on each arm 2 Meter
1 Meter
10 Bio plastic support arms with connectors
Stem: • 2mm Oak veneer • 3mm Stainless Steel bar • Vinyl layer creating Power Flower meter gauge Rigidity: • 4mm EcoPoxy resin fibre glass rod
Hollowed rings of Canadian Oak fixed and turned
4x 6 mm Stainless Bolts 5 mm PVC tubing Custom built 500ml syringe Linear Actuator and motor connected wirelessly to household energy meter 25mm Stainless Steel plate
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PO W ER FLO W ER COMPONENTS
EXPLODED DIAGRAM OF THE POWER FLOWER
The exploded views gives a break down of the components needed to build the Power Flower. The Power Flower’s choice of materials had to reflect its ethical message so we tried to choose the most sustainable materials that would still give the best functionality.
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As stated this project was a journey on which we experimented with
many different materials and techniques to try and create the functioning Power Flower prototype.There is no doubt that the choice of materials could be altered and tailored to suit the appropriate client’s tastes. The overall size of the Power Flower can vary, the key is the simply syringe mechanism, that can be adapted to increase or decrease when necessary.
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Design process EXPERIMENT THROUGH MAKING
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We felt it important to highlight how much we have experimented with this project and see how it has developed. From starting as a coke bottle connected to a garden pond pump to syringe hydraulics connected to a linear actuator and motor. Our strategy of curiosity and experimentation was eventually successful.
major tWo
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MANUAL PO W ER FLO W ER
INTERACTIVE TOOL AND COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL
We also designed and manufactured a smaller 1:2 scale prototype of the Power Flower shown here. The purpose of this prototype is to illustrate how the larger Power Flower would work, and to also highlight the commercial potential in developing the syringe mechanism into a manually controlled light. We chose to manufacture a smaller version
because we made the syringe development relatively late on in the project and it was far more manageable. It also meant we wouldn’t have to out source the fitting of the electronics for the linear actuator and the motor. We also believed that a manually controlled Power Flower would create more of a talking piece at our exhibitions and it would encourage more people to interact with our product and idea.
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POWERFLOWER DAILY REPORT
MON 01 02 12 Another development was the idea that Power Flower customers should have the opportunity to download and print off daily/weekly receipts of their energy usage. It aims to demonstrate that the crucial feature that a Power Flower helps your pocket as well as the planet. Keeping track of user bills on a daily/weekly basis will undoubtedly lead to more conscious consumers who also save money on their energy bills. These receipts could be directly printed from the website or posted to your house. All the receipts would be recollected and recycled by the Power Flower Team.
POWER USAGE
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15.5
kwh
HOURLY AVERAGE
165
kw
DAILY TOTAL
WORST APPLIANCES
CARBON FOOTPRINT
4.2 KG CO2 4 SACKS OF COAL TEMPERATURE
Sign In: Log in to your account to monitor everything Power Flower
Conscious Consumption: Learn more about the Conscious Consumption theory
Contact Us: Need help with anything to do with Power Flower? Get in contact with us
Connect to Power Flower: Sync your Power Flower with an online account to monitor energy use
Technical Support: Having problems with your Power Flower? FAQ’s about the system and installation help
Daily/Weekly Report: View or print your Power Flowers daily or weekly status report
My Power Flower: Check your Power Flowers stats
Home Page: Navigate back to the Power Flower home page
WeBsite Design f e at u r e s o f t h e p o W e r f l o W e r W e B s i t e
Easy access to live data and statistics recorded by the Power Flower
Provides information on energy saving techniques
Allows users to compare to other Power Flower users in the country
Allows access to information on Conscious Consumption theory
Customise your weekly/daily printout report
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During our final year we have brought forward a theory we’ve named Conscious Consumption. Our projects during our time at Falmouth have mainly been aimed at trying to prove that our consumption behaviours can be designed into our
consciousness through products, such as the Power Flower. We believe that the success of the project is evidence of the truth in the theory and we are keen to pursue this path after university. More information can be found in our Conscious Consumption booklet.
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contacts & suppliers
POIETIC STUDIO
CONCEPT SHED
SEABASE LTD
246 Stockwell Road, Brixton, London, SW9 9SP
The Old Lemonade Factory Windsor Quarry Falmouth Cornwall
Unit 10, Seabase Industrial Estate Newquay Cornwall TR7 2SX
keivor@poietic.co.uk +44 (0) 7595 88 24 74
sam@conceptshed.com 01326 316536
info@seabase.eu +44 (0) 1637 875 811
EAST COAST FIBREGLASS SUPPLIES LTD
WOODSTOCK HARDWOOD FLOORING
Bickland Business Centre, Bickland Water Road, Falmouth, Cornwall.
Unit 4, Tregoniggie Ind Est Falmouth Cornwall TR11 4SN
sales@ecfibreglasssupplies.co.uk 0191 497 5134
contact@woodstock.co.uk 01326 370020
contact@abs.co.uk 01326 37 88 11
West Walpole Street South Shields NE33 5BY
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ABS METALS
C O N S C I O U S C O N S U M P T I O N T H E O R Y
* Thank you *