I have just arrived at the end of a few weeks in TinkerLondon helping on, and observing the beginnings of a project called ‘HomeSense‘. This is an open research project, enabling user led innovation in the Smart Home sphere. It is a collaboration between TinkerLondon and EDF. Why? This is where my PhD seems to be directing itself to and as such I have been observing a more industrially focused attitude towards this type of approach to innovation. My findings have been interesting and somewhat surprising to say the least.

Homesense brings the open collaboration methods of online communities to physical infrastructures in the home. Instead of having products forced on them through a top-down design process, selected households will create their own smart homes and live with the technologies that they have developed themselves without any prior technical expertise. My role in this has been to consider the toolkit design.

I’ve had a lovely time with the Tinker team, they really are the people to watch. Thank you!

Go follow @TinkerLondon and @Home_Sense now!