Envisioning a smart home that can learn and negotiate the needs of multiple users

Most of the previous smart home researches were primarily concerned for single-user scenarios. However, our homes are usually full with social interactions. In order to explore the research challenge, we applied need-finding approaches to envision the possibilities. We visited ten families to prove five important themes in domestic life. Those findings were used to inspire hundreds of design ideas. Finally, a concept design that utilized the agent and ubiquity mobile technology to learn personal preferences and act to negotiate family members' different needs is proposed.