MINDFUL AUTOMATION: TECHNOLOGY AND MEANING IN SMART HOMES

Abstract

This paper outlines a programme of work which uses research through design approaches to explore the impacts of home automation on ritual, meaning and embodied practice. Rather than the current focus on utilitarian outcomes related to industry and efficiency, we suggest that automation in the home may have bearing on identity, spirituality and mental wellbeing. We suggest that as connected technology and automation becomes more embedded in the context of the home, consideration must be given to how this impacts on meaningful practices that require embodied, tangible experience and action. These may be religious or spiritual in nature, such as use of the Lakshmi jhadu (grass broom) as part of a morning sweeping ritual in rural Indian households. Alternatively, they may also be related to cultural and interpersonal meaning such as creating a physical cassette mix-tape to give to a loved one. We ask: how is value and meaning in embodied ritual practice impacted by intervention with digital technologies in the home? Can borrowing principles of traditional ritual practice support sustainable and meaningful smart interventions to home life?