Improving the effectiveness of information

Let’s continue our exploration of the contextual intelligence domain and see how simple things in our everyday life could potentially be affected by this development. Our goal in this blog series is to design a context-sensitive, smart Nespresso Machine that can provide us with exactly the right cup of coffee at the right time and that can support us in performing simple maintenance activities. In my previous post we looked at the variables of preparing a cup of coffee with a Nespresso Machine: Brewing ratio: ristretto, espresso or lungo Additions: sugar / sweets, coffee milk / coffee milk powder, steamed / frothed milk Flavor Intensity Other important aspects like temperature and pressure were left out of the list, because they cannot be influenced with a setting on the machine. Relevant Context Variables So, what are the relevant context variables that influence our choice of coffee. In my opinion all of these variables can influence our choice: Taste Flavor / sm...

In one of my posts, about a month ago - I complained about the fact that my new Nespresso coffee machine was not able to assist me in performing simple coffee making tasks. The manual - of which the author probably has heard of minimalism but never actually read Carroll's books - didn't help much. These are the primary tasks of the machine: Preparing for first use Adjusting the water level Preparing coffee Emptying the system Resetting to factory defaults Setting the energy saving mode Descaling the machine Cleaning the machine Troubleshooting As exciting as all these tasks may be, there is only one that is really influenced by the context: Preparing coffee . Let's zoom in on this task and see how we can optimize our coffee making experience. The variables of a cup of coffee Assuming we use the Nespresso machine to prepare a cup of coffee, we can identify the following variables: Brewing ratio: ristretto, espresso or lungo Additions: sugar / sweets, cof...

I have bought a new coffee machine this weekend. Not that the old machine stopped working, I just didn’t like its coffee anymore. The old coffee machine was one of those Senseo machines, very cool 10 years ago, but not really living up to the expectations when it came to the quality of the coffee. Plus that you really needed to apologize up front to visitors for having such an example of ancient technology in your kitchen. But then the new machine: it is cool, it is white, it is small and it makes excellent coffee. Even better: by buying it I became a member of an exclusive society of coffee enjoyers, amongst who George Clooney is probably the best known. So with high anticipation I unpacked the machine. First came the exclusive black menu card holder, containing a menu card with an overview of all the special flavors that were now within my reach and an invitation to become a member of this exclusive coffee drinkers club. Next came the starters set with 16 exclusive coffee cups...

The new Healthkit app and the improved Siri in combination with HomeKit - introduced in the new Apple iOS 8 - are two perfect examples of how contextual intelligence enters our daily lifes. Although Healthkit seems to be focusing on monitoring, making it possible to share this data with your doctor, the next step could be that your phone advices you to go on a diet (or even tells you what to eat) or go to the hospital. Siri in combination with HomeKit is also interesting. If you tell Siri (your phone) that you go to sleep, the HomeKit system is able to switch off heatings, dim the lights and lock your doors. What I would find interesting to see is what happens if you add more context data to this system, like data from a video surveillance system in front of your door, or location data provided by your phone. Combine these with dynamic rules and you could have doors that automatically unlock in front of you and lights that follow you through your house (when it is dark). I have f...