Local Warming
Local Warming is a prototype that aims to challenge the status quo. Through the use of sophisticated motion sensing and autonomous control, the installation provides people with direct and localized warmth. An infrared energy beam follows the user’s movement so they can be comfortably warm in an otherwise cold environment and thus the inefficiencies of ambient heating are avoided all together.
For this installation, the participants are welcomed by a carpet marked with symbolic foot prints. By standing in this location, the users can engage the system, and the warmth will follow them through space. By installing the system outdoors, the paradigm shifting possibilities are amplified. It provides the ability to manipulate unenclosed environments—in an efficient manner—to a degree allowing us to utterly blur the architectural boundary between interior and exterior beyond the removal of physical obstructions. When thought of as a responsive environment, the system exhibits a smart, data-driven, personalized form of climate control.
