Mobile Intelligence

14.2 SMART OFFICE PROJECT

The long-term target of our research is to provide a flexible office environment as a platform for ubiquitous and organic computing applications. We chose our own office floor to build a smart facility. Each office has several devices like PCs, laptops, PDAs, telephone, and sensor-boards. The highlight of the flexible office are the smart doorplates. We replaced the usual doorplates at each office door by electronic displays with touchscreens. Figure 14.1 shows a picture of one smart doorplate and Figure 14.2 shows the floor of our institution with a smart doorplate at each door.

Figure 14.1 Smart doorplate.

Figure 14.2 Floor with smart doorplates.

The smart doorplates can not only display information about the actual office but also provide a convenient possibility to perform user-oriented and location-based services. Using the touchscreen, the person can interact directly with the flexible office system. The following scenarios demonstrate applications of the smart doorplates (see Figures 14.3–14.5) in combination with a visitor/employee tracking system and additional sensors.

14.2.1 Smart Doorplate as Signpost

The smart doorplates can act as signposts within the office building to direct employees to their assigned office and to direct visitors to a sought ...