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An Air Conditioner That Follows You Around(http://gizmodo.com/an-air-conditioner-that-follows-you-around-1685286978)

14,069 7Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan (http://kcampbelldollaghan.kinja.c…

Filed to: FUTURISM (/TAG/FUTURISM) 2/11/15 6:40pm (http://gizmodo.com/an-air-conditioner-that-follows-you-around-1685286978)

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survivalism-­are-­shaping-­1686413185)

How  Disasters,  Emergencies,  and  Survivalism  Are  Shaping  Home  Design

(http://gizmodo.com/how-­disasters-­emergencies-­and-­survivalism-­are-­

shaping-­1686413185)

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in-­philadelphia-­1686343389)

Comcast  Is  Copying  Apple  With  "Designed  In  Philadelphia"  Remotes  

(http://gizmodo.com/comcast-­is-­copying-­apple-­with-­designed-­in-­

philadelphia-­1686343389)

In  the  future,  our  air  conditioners  will  look  like  giant  clouds  of  mist  —  and  they'll  follow  us  around.

When  we  last  checked  in  with  MIT's  Senseable  City  Lab  (http://senseable.mit.edu/),  they  were

debuting  a  prototype  heater  that  targets  the  exact  space  where  you're  standing.  Now,  the  lab  has

created  a  system  that  does  the  same  thing—for  cooling.

The  idea  behind  both  systems—which  are  meant  to  be  experiments,  not  finished  products—is  simple:

Why  waste  the  energy  to  heat  or  cool  an  entire  building  or  room  when  you  could  micro-­target  the

space  of  a  human,  instead?  The  heated  version,  a  system  called  Local  Warming,  was  installed  as  a

prototype  in  Venice  last  year  (http://gizmodo.com/this-­heater-­knows-­where-­you-­are-­and-­only-­

warms-­the-­spac-­1589255322)(and,  it  needs  to  be  mentioned,  any  resemblance  to  that  Silicon  Valley

microwave  joke  was  entirely  accidental)  and  used  servo  motors,  infrared  lamps,  and  motion  tracking

to  direct  rays  onto  the  locations  where  people  were  standing.

This  week  in  Dubai,  the  Lab  unveiled  the  inverse  and  opposite  sister  project  to  Local  Warming.  It's

called  Cloud  Cast,  and  it's  designed  with  desert  climates  in  mind.

1 (/oh-youre-fucking-dead-now-ac-1685295247)

It's  made  up  of  an  array  of  thin  aluminum  rods  that  are  installed  on  the  ceiling  of  a  space.  These  rods

contain  ultrasonic  sensors  that  can  pinpoint  the  speed  and  location  of  a  human  exactly.  Here's  how

Senseable  City  Lab  explains  it:

Measuring  the  time  interval  between  sending  the  signal  and  receiving  the  echo  to  determine

the  distance  to  the  floor,  visitors  passing  between  the  sensor  and  the  floor  will  produce  an

increase  or  decrease  in  this  time  interval,  having  either  absorbed  or  reflected  the  sound

waves  respectively.  Data  from  these  sensors  is  fed  to  a  central  control  system  used  to  trigger

hydro-­valves  and  LED  lights  in  proximity  to  the  detected  target.

Based  on  your  location  and  speed,  nebulizers  mist  you  as  you  pass.  "In  traditional  systems,  however,  a

lot  of  energy  and  water  are  consumed  for  cooling  outdoor  spaces,  even  when  sparsely  used,"  says  the

Lab's  founder  and  director,  Carlo  Ratti.  "In  our  project,  we  focus  misting  on  people,  gaining  order  of

7   9 Reply

magnitudes  in  efficiency."  It's  just  like  the  misters  you'll  find  in  hot,  dry  climates  all  over  the  world—

except  it's  designed  to  waste  less  water  and  energy  by  misting  one  human-­sized  space  at  a  time.

Does  that  mean  you'll  be  seeing  this  snazzy  LED  dreamscape  anytime  soon?  Definitely  not.  Think  of

this  as  a  proof  of  concept—an  example  of  how,  with  a  little  jury-­rigging,  existing  systems  in  our  lives

can  be  rewired  to  waste  less  and  do  more.

All  images  courtesy  of  Senseable  City  Lab.

View all 9 replies (http://gizmodo.com/an-air-conditioner-that-follows-you-around-1685286978/all)

4

3

Gadsden (http://gadsden.kinja.com) Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan

2/11/15 8:51pm (http://gizmodo.com/in-the-future-our-air-conditioners-will-look-like-gia-1685315310)

(http://gadsden.kinja.com)

"In  the  future,  our  air  conditioners  will  look  like  giant  butts  of  mist  —  and  they'll  follow  us

around."

Yet  another  piece  of  magic  from  the  Cloud  to  Butt  (http://gizmodo.com/a-­chrome-­extension-­

that-­replaces-­cloud-­with-­butts-­w-­1615813889)  Chrome  Extension.

Reply

Eric Limer (http://ericlimer.kinja.com) Gadsden

2/11/15 9:31pm (http://gizmodo.com/its-the-gift-that-keeps-on-giving-1685321823)

(http://ericlimer.kinja.com)

It's  the  gift  that  keeps  on  giving.

Reply

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