Introduction

We live in remarkable time, often not taking note of what is happening
around us, and how much it is changing while we watch. Digitalisation, the
quiet infi ltration of artifi cial intelligence into everyday objects and our
environment is one of the most substantial changes which appears to be quite
natural. Things become smart – smart home, smart door, smart toothbrush… This
smartness is generally perceived as the ability of objects to evaluate the
environment and what is going on there realistically and to guide processes,
if need arises – be it textile which responds to our body heat and adjusts
its structure accordingly, or an airport concourse which delicately and personally
guides us to the right place according to the ticket in our pocket.
These changes do not only mean that objects and rooms become functionally
more versatile, more capable, fl exible and smarter, but also that we will have
completely new ways how to communicate with the world of objects, to comprehend,
to advise and limit it. It is obvious that green and red lights and 12
buttons in the front pane are being moved to the trash but could we imagine
a talking and touch sensitive dinner table to be a smart solution? Designers
will have totally new challenges to create solutions which would be natural
and enjoyable in usage, where sophistication and the rigidness of treatment
as set forth by technology would not prevail.
Naturally, there is another side of the story, much more chilling for some
people than the fascination over new technology. Do we want that technology
is going to guide us and to follow us, counting our activities, collecting
and processing information it has obtained and thus making us parts of a
totally controlled system? Naturally not. During our three years long Smart
Products project we have tried to provide new solutions with just these
conclusions that would be based on humans themselves and their wishes, offering
them meaningful, enjoyable solutions they would like. But above all
this project has set the goal of opening up the students’ minds, so that in
the future they might take the role of visionaries and guide us through the
jungle of choices.