#smartlibrary

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Freiburg’s new Death Star

Since September 2015 the Albert-Ludwigs University of Freiburg, where I study has a new library. (Official Webpage | Wikipedia)  It’s not even three months old and they call it the “Death-Star”. I think, you should see why.

I like libraries, I like architecture and I like interaction-design. Most of all however, I am a keen observer of how the built environment and the objects we use can shape our own behavior. As an (involuntary) power user of this building I was therefore excited to see the impact that this building would have on my day-to-day life as a student in Freiburg. 

Three months after the opening, I feel it is save to say that people are happy with the general look and feel of the building. It is a nice and quiet place to go to, the coffee is not too bad and they have fancy Vitra chairs, if you want to take a nap. Some impressions from the University Photo Gallery:

If you’re interested, you can read some of the (German) media critique here :

Video-Tour @Badische Zeitung

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Baupanne in Freiburg, Blendende Bibliothek

Badische Zeitung: Die neue Freiburger Unibibliothek wird eröffnet und polarisiert

FAZ: Blendend: Neue Universitätsbibliothek in Freiburg

As far as my critique goes, it turned out the devil was mostly in the details. Here are some examples (and my respective comments)

The buildings facade is so splendid and shiny, that during certain times of the year parts of the building have to covered with some textile cover, to prevent drivers on the nearby road from getting blinded. (At least it’s no like in London where skyscrapers are destroying cars.)

People get stuck in the new but slow entrance doors for a minute or so. (Nice psychological side effect: A little 30sec forced break that helps you switch from street-mood to working-mood.)

The info desk is in the quiet area. (?!)

Something (probably a broken light sensor) makes all the blinds and lights go crazy on cloudy days. Every five minutes. (Probably easy to fix.)

The windows are covered with a metal paint that kills your cellphone reception. (Probably good for productivity, but unintended.)

So far so bad/good. Those little flaws and errors are certainly just normal for a building this size.

21st century architecture - Technology from the 1980s

A few days ago however, sitting around in this very building I had some thoughts on libraries, design and technology, that felt worth sharing. 

My thoughts were kicked off by two little observations I made.

First, a university employee came by with a manual “click counter” counting the number of people working around me. Apparently they were trying to track, how many people are using their new thing. This seemed almost absurdly old fashioned to me, in such a futuristic building. 

A minute later, the lights on my table and all the other tables around me went out, so that you had to turn them on again. This kept happeng every consecutive hour for the rest of the day.

I obviously thought, this was another technical glitch. 

Later on, I read that it was instead designed to save energy on unused tables, where people leave without turning the lights off. Furthermore, the fact that you have to switch your light on again every hour, should give you a sense of how much time you spend at your table studying (not that anybody would count the hours to leave).

Delighted by this little, yet effective idea I thought about how the old fashioned “tracker” could also be replaced with something a little more sophisticated using modern network technology. Something such as tracking the number of devices logged into the WiFi or just counting the number of table lights turned on. It struck me as ridiculous, that with the exception of some Macs and some WiFi routers, the very same building could have been built in the 1980s.

This conclusion however, got me thinking about how we could use connected things, apps and sensors to built a better library.

Ideas for a smarter library

So: Here are some of the things I came up with for a potential “SMART LIBRARY”. It’s just loose ideas, nothing tangible or even concrete. I just thought about the kind of data that could be collected (I.) and how we could maybe use it (II.).

I. Collecting data

1. Information that the building itself can collect

Number of power sockets in use

Number if lamps in use on individual tables

Sensors in doors (entrance, toilets, elevators)

Data form the library Wifi Routers:

Individual time spent in the library

Usage patterns in terms of location

Noise hotspots and what to do about them

Consumption of snacks/coffee at the library cafeteria

Content people consume digitally (websites, papers, articles)

2. Extra information via user input

Favorite workplace within the library

Transport patterns

Personal preferences for temperature/light conditions

Personal preferences in brake times

II. Use cases for this data

1. Status screens on each floor displaying useful data for users

Overall occupancy rate

Overall noise level

Temperature on each floor

Todays cafeteria (Mensa) menu.

Current productivity/coffeine level of the library

Event suggestions for life after the library

2. A smartphone app showing you for example

Books that you have to give back soon

Books that match your courses

Book recommendations, based on what you have rented

Your weekly productivity report

Hours spent in the library working/doing others things

Friends of yours, that are in the library, maybe a coffee break button

People near you, working on the same stuff as you

When does your next tram leave?

3. Playful new interactions such as:

A productivity competition with your friends (Library Leaderboard)

Discounts at the cafeteria for hours spent at the library

The smart Library as a flirt platform (think spotted for libraries)

Free coffee if you don’t come at rush hour

Stuff to be careful about

Broken sensors can break the library (see window shades)

Privacy and Data protection

More tech can be more distracting

For now this is just a loose collection of ideas. Think of it as a base for further thinking and drop your own ideas. May the force be with you!