By Roland Pawlitschko
The networking of the world is increasing just as much as the digitization of our everyday lives. For some time now, people have not been the only ones communicating. Things are also communicating with each other over the Internet — meaning vehicles, technical devices and living spaces, for example, are becoming ever more intelligent.
This year’s Munich Creative Business Week (MCBW) with the keynote “Design Connects: The Smart Revolution” reflects this trend. In his lecture on “Smart People,” Steelcase design director, Michael Held, discussed the opportunities and challenges this trend offers people and how people deal with them. In doing so, he introduced a series of experts to shed even more light on the topic.
Jens Pohl, head of design at Tado, a company that offers smart room and heater thermostats which can be controlled with an app, reported on today’s smart living opportunities. Pohl made it clear that while people like to use technology, they do not always want to be staring at it, neither in the form of a complex remote control nor in the form of intrusive looking devices. People prefer customizable and intuitive solutions that run in the background and think for themselves rather than ones that only respond to commands.
