Abstract
Over the last few years Smart Home Technology area has been rapidly growing. The home space saturated with remotely monitored and controlled sensors is different from the same space without these capabilities. The article presents the results of a qualitative study (7 in-depth interviews) conducted in 2018 on users of Smart Home Technology. The research shows that the administrative functions of the system usually become the domain of one household member with the highest technical skills. Such person becomes a “super-empowered user”, for whom it is possible to control the house space (e.g. change temperature, light etc.) and watch other householders in real time, even being hundreds of miles away. Such situation changes the relations of power and control in the family. The study shows that the smart building and home space becomes, through the technology, an extension of the senses of the supervisor.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Balta-Ozkan, N., Boteler, B., Amerighi, O.: European smart home market development: Public views on technical and economic aspects across the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy. Energy Res. Soc. Sci. 3, 65–77 (2014)
Bennett, J.: Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things. Duke University Press Books, Durham (2010)
Hargreaves, T., Wilson, C.: Who uses smart home technologies? Representations of users by the smart home industry. European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ECEEE), Summer Study 2013. Toulon/Hye`res, France, 3rd–8th June 2013
Darby, S.J., McKenna, E.: Social implications of residential demand response in cool temperate climates. Energy Policy 49, 759–769 (2012)
Wilson, C., Hargreaves, T., Hauxwell-Baldwin, R.: Smart homes and their users: a systematic analysis and key challenges. Pers. Ubiquitous Comput. 19(2), 463–476 (2015)
McLuhan, M.: Understanding Media. The Extensions of Man. The MIT Press, Cambridge (1994)
Clark, A., Chalmers, D.J.: The extended mind. Analysis 58, 10–23 (1998)
Kranzberg, M.: Technology and history: ‘Kranzberg’s laws’. Technol. Cult. 27(3), 544–560 (1986)
Ihde, D.: Technology and the Lifeworld. From Garden to Earth. Indiana University Press, Bloomington (1990)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Kowalski, J., Biele, C., Krzysztofek, K. (2019). Smart Home Technology as a Creator of a Super-Empowered User. In: Karwowski, W., Ahram, T. (eds) Intelligent Human Systems Integration 2019. IHSI 2019. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 903. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11051-2_27
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11051-2_27
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-11050-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-11051-2
eBook Packages: Intelligent Technologies and RoboticsIntelligent Technologies and Robotics (R0)