Weather Bugs
Weather weather weather. Why are we humans so obsessed with weather? For my second assignment in Networked Objects, I am working in a group of three to re-think the thermometer in the dawning age of ubiquitous computing.
Instead of ‘weather’ it might be more accurate to say we are obsessed with climate. The climate of our world, climate of our homes and offices. It seems that so much of our comfort is wrapped up in climate. The way we typically interact with climate is by either memorizing data about exterior climate or controlling (or trying to control) interior climate through typically abstract medium. Little happy suns, rainy clouds, digital numbers, knobs, and clicks are our only, and usually futile, hope at relating to the huge machine that is our climate… aside from our good ‘ole senses of course.
Its interesting to me that we datatize all of our weather info so much. Not only do we have to know how warm its going to be, but to the DEGREE; can we even tell the difference between 69 and 70 degrees? If so, does it matter? That said, I still find myself caring about the accuracy of those forecasted numbers, how they compare to averages, and if any records are being broken.
When I spoke to some peers about their experiences/relation with the weather I found most people simply used weather data as a tool to help them decide what to wear that day. About half of the people I talked to got their weather ‘data’ from the windows in their apartment. They typically didn’t check any sort of online or ‘objective’ weather data source throughout the day, and only would when outside looked especially menacing. Other people had scientific weather data worked into their daily routine. Most had favorite online services and could tell me about them with a decent level of detail and excitement.
Some of the people I interviewed also used the weather to relate to friends and family that lived far away. I assume in a ‘I can imagine what its like to be there’ sort of way. No one I talked to though expressed a need for more information about the weather. Most who went out and checked a website for weather info just looked at some of the data (usually the hi-lo range), and did not care about the more detailed barometric pressure or dew point. People also said they would never install an application like Weather Bug or a notifier because they do not want to be updated all day about the weather, just when they are making decisions about clothing.
It seems to me that people care about the weather insofar that it is useful to them. They look at the weather out the window or on the net to make decisions that are important to their comfort, not really out of interest. In the age of ubiquitous computing, people will expect information grabbing to be effortless, you shouldn’t have to ‘go’ anywhere… it should all be ‘here.’ Or at least near when you need it, at home, in the morning. Weather information should also be practical, relatable… its not about the data, but the use of the data.
Links:
Look how popular weather is. And Here.
Group Members’ Blogs:
Andy Doro
Shin-Yi Huang