Local Warming
Humans don’t hibernate — we work in our offices all through the winter. How does being ensconced in a heat bubble during those cold months strike you? An art installation dubbed “Local Warming” which offers a preview of such personalized climate control, returns from the prestigious Vienna Architecture Biennale next week. This well-received design from MIT’s Senseable City Lab also promises to be an energy saver.
Local Warming uses a WiFi-based motion tracking system, developed by MIT’s Center for Wireless Networks and Mobile Computing, to track the movement of people in an indoor space. When this tracker senses someone moving through the hallway, say, it triggers an overhead grid of infrared lamps and mirrors, whose elements rotate and create a spotlight of warmth for the person.
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