InfoDrops, the Sonic Shower
InfoDrops, the Sonic Shower
Although most of us strive to develop a sustainable and less resource-intensive behavior, this unfortunately is a difficult task, because often we are unaware of relevant information, or our focus of attention lies elsewhere. Based on this observation, we introduced the SonicShower as a novel approach for an unobtrusive and affective ambient auditory information display to become and stay aware of water and energy consumption while taking a shower.
Using the interaction sound of waterdrops falling onto the bathtub as a carrier for information, our system supports users to be in touch with resource-related variables. We have explored the usage of an affective dimension as an additional layer of information and introduced our 4/5-factor approach, which evaluates the current consumption in relation to a fraction of the long-term average consumption and thereby adapts the auditory display's output so that it supports a slow but steady adjustment of the personal showering habit over time.