Sound for Energy

Sound for Energy - Sonic Interaction Design to Support Energy Efficiency Behaviour in the Household

Energy provides heating, lighting and more, but it affects the environment. In Europe, households account for 25% of the energy-related greenhouse gas emissions. Residential energy feedback could contribute to 5%–10% energy consumption reduction, but there are several barriers including those related to user behaviour. Visualisations of energy costs and savings are not enough: interventions must be tailored, frequent and engaging.

Our novel approach will employ sound. We will design, develop and evaluate real-time digital sonic interactions as augmentations of individual appliances and aggregated smart meters' outputs, which will promote energy efficiency in the household. Without adding to the myriad of “beeps” in our life, we will create new everyday sounds meant to be felt, implicitly understood, rather than listened to. Our procedural audio models, which can be embedded and personalized, will be based on our research on sound, interaction design, behavior change, and energy. The project benefits from access to high-resolution energy data of the KTH Live-in Lab and its individual and shared spaces for testing.

Project website: soundforenergy.net