Buildings Could Save Energy By Spying On Workers

Galactic_grub writes "In the future, your place of work (or apartment) may very well spy on you. But that doesn't mean it'll be able to name and shame you for all your nasty habits. Researchers at Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratory (MERL) have devised a 'dumb' surveillance system that monitors the movements of workers without identifying them individually. The idea is to have a computer system automatically configure the air-conditioning to save money, or illuminate the most appropriate escape signs in an emergency."

Comments

Already exists

[fwice]

My company already has this. Lights / ventilation run only from 6:30 AM to 6:30 PM. At that points, the lights / hvac goes out. But if you are working and want to reactivate these systems, there is a webpage (and a phone extension) that you go to, input your office location, and voila -- the systems come back on.

and according to the company, its dropped costs by a third.

Nothing to see

[LiquidCoooled]

http://www.marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm

Depending on how you want to think about it, it was funny or inevitable or symbolic that the robotic takeover did not start at MIT, NASA, Microsoft or Ford. It started at a Burger-G restaurant in Cary, NC on May 17, 2010. It seemed like such a simple thing at the time, but May 17 marked a pivotal moment in human history.

Re:Emergencies?

[Kjella]

Fair enough, if they have the sense to make it so that the default is ON. Lost connection somehow, sensors not responding for any reason? It lights and stay lit. And if they really went to the trouble of making it an automated system, they should have colored bulbs. Green = Primary exit. Yellow = Secondary exit. Red = Blocked exit. No light = BULB IS BROKEN. I mean seriously, if people don't use an exit because they assume they're not suppose to use it because it fails to light up, you've made a much bigger screw-up. In most cases there's some obvious signs this exit isn't usable, like flames and smoke...