Happylife

BACKGROUND Auger's research explores the potential impact of engineering and physical sciences on the economy, public policy, culture and our everyday lives. Auger collaborated with Aberystwyth University Computer Science Department (AUCS), whose research project, in partnership with the Home Office and HM Revenue and Customs, was to develop new informatics technologies to assist in the policing of national borders. Auger, and his collaborators, speculated on how AUCS's research could make the transition from the context of national security into a family home, examining how passive-profiling techniques could be employed to display and mediate the most private and emotive aspects of family life CONTRIBUTION In Happylife, a camera equipped with sensors detects changes in a person's mood and emotion. By analyzing this data the camera may be able to predict future criminal activity. Happylife adapts this technology for keeping peace in the home. A dial, one for each family member, registers current and predicted emotional states. Complex scenarios are created where the significant relationship between the technology and the family is demonstrated: "It was that time of the year. All of the Happylife prediction dials had spun anti-clockwise, like barometers reacting to an incoming storm. We lost David 4 years ago and the system was anticipating our coming sadness. We found this strangely comforting." SIGNIFICANCE This research is an example of how design can work to playfully contextualise or repurpose certain practices and uses of technology, in order to illuminate the possibilities, limitations, and issues inherent in those practices. Happy life underwent further research in collaboration with AUCS and Shenyang Jianzhu University in China, where the technology was installed in a Chinese family home for a test period.

背景 奥杰（Auger）的研究旨在探究工程与物理科学对经济、公共政策、文化及日常生活的潜在影响。奥杰与阿伯里斯特威斯大学计算机科学系（Aberystwyth University Computer Science Department，简称AUCS）开展合作，该系联合英国内政部（Home Office）与英国皇家税务与海关总署（HM Revenue and Customs）发起的研究项目，旨在开发新型信息技术以助力国家边境警务工作。奥杰及其合作者探讨了如何将AUCS的研究从国家安全场景拓展至家庭场景，探索可通过被动画像技术呈现并调节家庭生活中最私密且饱含情感的面向。
贡献 在“幸福生活（Happylife）”系统中，搭载传感器的摄像头可检测用户的情绪与心境变化。通过分析此类数据，该摄像头或能预测未来的犯罪行为。“幸福生活”将此项技术适配用于维护家庭和睦。系统设有对应每位家庭成员的调节旋钮，用于记录当前及预测的情绪状态。研究构建了复杂场景以展现该技术与家庭之间的深层关联：“时值每年的这个时节，所有‘幸福生活（Happylife）’的预测旋钮都逆时针转动，宛如气压计对即将到来的风暴做出反应。我们四年前失去了戴维，系统预判到我们即将陷入悲伤。这让我们感到一种奇异的慰藉。”
意义 此项研究展示了设计如何以趣味化的方式对技术的应用实践与使用场景进行语境重构或再利用，以此阐明此类实践中固有的可能性、局限性及相关议题。“幸福生活”项目还与AUCS及中国沈阳建筑大学（Shenyang Jianzhu University）开展进一步合作研究，期间该技术被安装在一户中国家庭中开展了为期一段时间的测试。