Contract Magazine - March 2017 - 30

Takeaways for Designers from
the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show
by Evelyn M. Lee, AIA

Evelyn M. Lee, AIA, writes
a regular column for Contract
on business practices in design
and professional development.
Based in San Francisco, Lee
is corporate managing director
for workplace strategy
and analytics at Savills Studley.
She holds graduate degrees
in architecture, public
administration, and business
administration. Currently
a member of the AIA national
board of directors, Lee
received the AIA Young
Architects Awards in 2014.
Her website is evelynlee.com.

a design tool, costs decrease, and more clients
begin to ask for it in their projects.
Superconnected smart spaces
New products allow buildings and interiors to
become increasingly interconnected. In particular,
mesh Wi-Fi networking systems help to eliminate
dead zones and buffering. Eero launched such
a system in early 2016, and Google, Linksys, ASUS,
and TP-Link have all followed suit with their
own sleek-looking devices that are all designed
to blend with interiors while providing room-toroom connectivity.
Numerous products introduced at CES this
year make inanimate objects smart through Wi-Fi
connectivity, data collection, and reporting. Some
of these new objects include Smarter's FridgeCam,
Netatmo's Smart Smoke Alarm, HiMirror,
MySmartBlinds, Panasonic's Smart Table, and the
Sleep Number 360 Smart Bed. As a result, more
potential data points exist to understand occupant
habits and routines. Once commercialized, the
growing Internet of Things will help us all to better
evaluate user behaviors and ultimately promote
happiness and productivity.

The 50th anniversary Consumer Electronics Show
(CES), held in January in Las Vegas, was the most
expansive one to date. Produced annually by
the Consumer Technology Association, CES is one
of the largest technology trade shows in the world.
"Alexa, how will you impact interiors?"
While not specifically targeted for an audience
Amazon stole the show at CES 2017-not as a result
of architects and designers, CES sets the stage
for the new year with leading technology companies of new gadgets but because other manufacturers
are integrating its virtual assistant software, Alexa,
unveiling their latest products and innovations.
The releases, therefore, are bound to have a significant into their own product offerings. Alexa offers the
impact on the design of interiors, design innovation, ability to turn objects on and off, give immediate
system status, and provide order refills in an instant.
as well as client expectations. Here are three
New products integrating Alexa include the ADT
big-picture technology developments seen at CES
Pulse system, the LG InstaView refrigerator, and
that will have increasing influence on commercial
Lenovo's Smart Assistant, which offers a speaker
interior design.
that is considered to be of higher quality compared
to Amazon's original Echo. Many brands also plan
Virtual reality
to integrate Alexa into broad, commonly used
When Oculus Rift debuted following a wildly
product categories, with Ford installing it into
successful Kickstarter campaign, virtual reality
its automobiles and Whirlpool introducing a line
(VR) made a splash at CES in 2013. This year's CES
of connected appliances that will sync with it.
had more than 260 exhibitors in the VR category
The growth of virtual assistants has
with an additional 388 in the related gaming
raised consumer expectations and makes instant
category. A growing number of technology entries-
gratification the norm. In our commercial interiors
such as HTC's Vive, Samsung's Gear VR, and
practice, savvy clients will want to be more
Google's Daydream View-have taken VR into
connected to project management scheduling
the mainstream quickly.
and information availability. And they will want
In the architecture and design profession,
this immediately. If your firm is shopping around
many firms are incorporating VR into their practices
for project management software, you may
(see the story "The Virtual World Becomes Reality,"
want to consider one that allows client access-
December 2016). The initial VR adopters tend to
albeit restricted-so that project schedules
be the larger firms since a full immersion into virtual
can be readily shared.
reality comes at great financial cost. Last year,
Other trends to watch this year include
Perkins+Will appointed its first director of digital
the deployment of autonomous vehicles and the
practice, and NBBJ announced a partnership with
extended use of drone technology. Keeping current
the startup Visual Vocal to incubate and develop
with emerging technology is vital to ensure that the
a new VR productivity platform. Expect greater
architecture, design, and construction industries
VR use in practice-among firms of various sizes-
remain relevant and resilient. c
as designers become accustomed to using it as
contractdesign.com

MARCH 2017

PHOTOGRAPHY: CARL BOWER

COLUMNIST

http://www.evelynlee.com http://www.contractdesign.com

Contract Magazine - March 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Contract Magazine - March 2017