Digitalization and the Internet of Things (IoT) turn homes into digitally connected ‘hubs’. They become central nodes or links in the chain of digital value creation. However, consumers are left vulnerable as they are responsible for digital maintenance and for acquiring skills necessary to handle present and future privacy and security risks. Households can therefore be considered the ‘weak link’ in the digital chain.
The RELINK project aims to produce research-based knowledge and awareness of digital vulnerabilities in connected homes, aspiring to help ‘re-link’ households as empowered agents in the digital chain. In this closing seminar we present project outcomes and explore issues related to the past, present and future of smart/connected homes.
The RELINK project (uni.oslomet.no) is funded by the Research Council of Norway.
Program overview
- 09.00-09.30: Arrival & coffee
- 09.30-11.30: Morning session: PAST: from computer house to future home and PRESENT: Fieldwork in connected homes
- 11.30-12.00: Lunch break
- 12.00-14.00: Afternoon session: FUTURE: perspectives on the future of the smart/connected home
Detailed program
09.30-09.40: Introduction to the closing seminar by Henry Mainsah, SIFO, OsloMet
Henry Mainsah is a research professor at SIFO/OsloMet. He leads the RELINK project and will introduce the closing seminar program.
09.40-09.50: Introduction to the RELINK project by Dag Slettemeås, SIFO, OsloMet
Dag Slettemeås is a researcher at SIFO/OsloMet and one of the initiators of the project. He will talk about the motivation behind the RELINK project.
09.50-10.05: A gender perspective on early smart house innovation by Anne-Jorunn Berg, Nord University
Anne-Jorunn Berg is a professor at Nord University. She studied smart house innovation in the late-1980s and the role of gender in designing technological homes of the future. In this talk she will take as a starting point early ideas of the home as a field for change. IT was at the time seen as an agent of change, posing challenges as ‘masculine technology’ entered the ‘feminine domain’ – the home.
10.10-10.25: Early user-studies in Telenor’s ‘home of the future’ by Arnfinn Nyseth, Telenor Innovation Centre
Arnfinn Nyseth is manager at Telenor Innovation Centre. In the early 2000s he was project manager for Telenor’s Fremtidshuset (Home of the Future) and chairman of Smarthusforum (Smart House Forum). He will talk about early ideas of the smart house concept and how user studies were conducted in ‘real-life’ settings, to study how practical and entertainment services could be integrated in different home contexts.
10.30-10.50: Fieldwork at home – part 1 by Helene Fiane Teigen, SIFO,OsloMet
Helene Fiane Teigen is a PhD student at SIFO/OsloMet. In the RELINK project, she investigates how internet-connected products are integrated into the everyday life of Norwegian households. In this presentation the main focus will be on how smart products become part of people's everyday routines and relationships. The aim is to ‘unpack’ smart everyday life in order to identify digital vulnerabilities that come with living with such products.
10.50-11.10: Fieldwork at home – part 2 by Cristina Paupini, TKD, OsloMet
Cristina Paupini is a PhD student at TKD/OsloMet. In the RELINK project she has conducted ‘remote’ fieldwork in Norwegian homes together with Helene. Video interviews as method has become a central component of her, and Helene’s, work. In her presentation she will focus on issues such as privacy and trust in connected home systems.
11.15-11.30: Awareness tools and concepts for smart living – student projects by Alex Taylor, OsloMet
Alex Taylor is a master student in product design at OsloMet. He has designed a conversational AI 'Hacker' to enhance cybersecurity among consumers. The premise is that people can talk to this character and try to figure out how smart homes get targeted by criminals. In this talk, Alex will present various student projects that encompass awareness tools and concepts for smart living.
12.00-12.15: A market view on the future of integrated smart homes by Erik Stokkeland, Futurehome
Erik Stokkeland is an entrepreneur and co-founder of Futurehome, established in 2013 to “fill a gap” in the smart home market. Futurehome was officially launched in 2016 and in 2021 the entrepreneurs bought Futurehome back from Telia, taking control over product development. Erik will take a market perspective on how integrated smart home concepts fare against off the shelf smart products.
12.20-12.35: TV futures claims in the UK: narrow framings and absent futures, disconnected people and hyper-connected technologies by Dale Southerton, University of Bristol
Dale Southerton is a professor in Sociology at the University of Bristol (a Relink partner), where he leads the ESRC Centre for Sociodigital Futures (CenSoF). The Centre explores how digital technologies and everyday practices mutually shape each other. The Centre also explores how cutting-edge technologies (AI, robotics, AR/VR/ER) – are imagined and innovated for a range of futures. Dale will focus his talk on how narrow the claims about future TV are in the literature, framing this in terms of sociodigital futures.
12.40-13.00: Expert and lay scenarios on the future of connected homes by Joakim Valevatn, Norwegian Board of Technology
Joakim Valevatn is a senior project manager at Teknologirådet (Norwegian Board of Technology, a Relink partner). In the Relink project he has conducted several scenario-based workshops with experts, stakeholders and consumers on digital vulnerabilities in smart homes. Joakim will present findings from these workshops. Together with Menumonic, Teknologirådet has also mapped vulnerabilities in smart home products. Key findings from this mapping will also be introduced.
13.05-13.20: Smart home products, perceptions and the challenge of AI: national surveys by Dag Slettemeås, SIFO, OsloMet
Dag Slettemeås is a researcher at SIFO/OsloMet. He has conducted two nationally representative surveys for RELINK, one in 2019 and one in 2024. The surveys map smart home products and services in Norwegian homes, and consumer perceptions on opportunities and challenges of increasingly more connected, automated, smarter and intelligent homes. Dag will present key findings from these surveys.
13.25-14.00 Panel and wrap-up
- 13.25-13.45: Panel discussion: Is a future of connected intelligent homes viable? Moderator: Dag Slettemeås
- 13.45-14.00: Wrap-up and closing comments by Henry Mainsah
