COSMOS stands for Co-Smart Morning Optimization System, and is a morning routine manager that reduces routine conflicts in shared homes by providing situational awareness for housemates regarding shared bathroom spaces. COSMOS is a smarthome solution that is comprised of five components, all of which collect data and make the system ‘smarter’ as COSMOS collects more information from its users. COSMOS enhances the experience of sleep in a multi-user context by empowering its users to have more control over their mornings, resulting in more restful sleep and less anxiety overall.
System Overview
The following components make up the COSMOS system:
- Mobile-based app. Acts as the ‘front-end’ of the system. Users can set their morning routine preferences on the app, can set up the other components of the system, and can view the status of the bathroom in the mornings.
- Phone projection dock. The projector phone dock is both a phone charger and a beam projector, and enables for a multisensory wake-up experience by providing the user with the most relevant information in the mornings such as the current time and the availability of the bathroom.
- Vibration pads. Placed underneath pillows or sheets, these pads wake users up in the morning with vibration to reduce noise disruptions to other housemates.
- Bathroom lights. Connected to the COSMOS system, the lights flash while a user is within the bathroom to provide information on how much time the user has left before the next person’s turn. Bathroom lights passively notify users of potential conflicts before they happen.
- Motion sensors. Placed within the bathroom, motion sensors detect whether someone is inside the bathroom and relays the information back to the COSMOS system. This information is visible on the COSMOS app or projection.
How does COSMOS work?
The COSMOS system calculates the wake-up order of the household based on the following:
- User routine preferences. All users of the COSMOS ecosystem set up morning routine preferences in order for the system to calculate the ideal time to wake each person up. Users set up the earliest time they’re willing to wake up, as well as the latest time they’re required to get up. This is defined as their wake-up range. They also set up the time of departure, as well as how much time they anticipate they need to use the bathroom.
- Priorities are determined by departure time and earliest wake-up time. COSMOS would determine whom to wake up first according to who needs to leave the earliest, followed by who needs to wake up the earliest (determined by “x”). The rationale for this system rule rests in the fact that those who need to leave earliest should be given priority over those who have more time to get ready.
- Behavioral changes affect wake-up order. In the case that a user wakes up earlier than his/her COSMOS time or in the case that snoozing occurs, COSMOS would rearrange the wake-up order according to the rules outlined above.
Additionally, COSMOS learns from its users and would provide suggestions to its users to update bathroom preference settings should their actual behavior be in stark conflict with their preference settings.
COSMOS notifies its bathroom users of potential conflicts with color-changing bathroom lights. The lights blink orange when the user has 20% of his/her arranged bathroom time left, and blinks red when the user is over time.
COSMOS: Conclusions
Our design goal for COSMOS is to enable individuals living in communal spaces to have better sleep by reducing anxieties that arise out of conflicts occurring in morning routines. We came to target this area of multi-user sleep as a result of interviews with potential stakeholders, and narrowed the scope of our explorations with the intention of creating richer microinteractions for the user.
The COSMOS ecosystem operates in the background, minimizing disturbances to the day-to-day lifestyle of a shared home. Through user input and continuous data analysis, COSMOS may enable housemates to live in more harmony through reducing the possibility of interpersonal conflicts before they even occur. By removing uncomfortable episodes from within the home, COSMOS serves to streamline the communal living experience.
COSMOS: Images
Wireframe Flow
Hi-Fidelity Screens
Projection Dock
Ceiling Display
