MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, MA, USA. A group of researchers have recently developed a system that allows an individual to enjoy his or her own personalized climate. This system has been made for office workers who need to warm up their office spaces on cold days. Most office workers prefer working in an office environment with just the right temperature. Not too hot and not too cold is the ideal workplace temperature to keep one fully functional.
The new system that has been developed is called “Local Warming” and it used WiFi motion tracking that works with ceiling-mounted dynamic heating elements. It is aimed to target a single person to create the exact climate he or she may need while inside the office premises. That way, energy is being maximized as the building’s heating system is not being wasted on empty spaces.
With the conventional heating systems that most office buildings are using, a lot of energy is being wasted to heat an entire office floor even if there are only a few persons on it. When a person enters a room equipped with the Local warming system, his or her location is spotted using a WiFi-based location tracking technology.
The study was done by Miriam Roure. She is also the lead researcher on the project and a research fellow in the Senseable City Lab. The Local Warming system aims to help promote energy efficiency in office buildings by synchronizing climate control with human presence. The WiFi technology used for the project was developed by Professor Dina Katabi and her team in the MIT Center for Wireless Networks and Mobile Computing.
The Local warming system is also being planned for commercial application in the near future. This technology will provide responsive outdoor heaters that warm people as they move through exterior or semi-covered spaces. It also being planned to be installed in large lobbies that are often occupied by people in a scattered manner.
As the technology progresses, the system is also being planned on being fully accessible through each individual’s smartphone. That way, each one could customize their preferred temperature around the Local warming system.
| Invention | Personalized Indoor Climate System For Each Individual |
|---|---|
| Organization | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Researcher | Miriam Roure & Team |
| Field(s) | office, health, climate, energy efficiency, MIT |
| Further Information | http://phys.org/news/2014-06-personalized-climates-individuals.html |
image courtesy of pixabay.com
