Stepping inside the Digital Home is like walking into a normal new house, except for cameras mounted on the walls, a medical office and exercise bikes hooked to a PlayStation 2.
Ball State is using the Digital Home and Health Care Facility just off campus on West Kilgore Street to research technology's affect on people's lives.
"We're testing the adaptation or rejection of technology in the home environment or the health-care environment," Michelle Prieb, project manager for the Center of Media Design, said.
The project is done in cooperation with Wise, Inc, which develops and manages health care facilities.
The digital home is invisibly wired to create a comfortable living atmosphere.
"It feels just like a real home, when you step inside you forget really quickly what it is," Michael Bloxham, director of insight and research and testing center director for Ball State's CMD, said.
However, obvious signs of advanced technology include scales that measure weight and send the results automatically to the doctor's office, an exercise bike that includes an interactive video game and a mirror with a built-in screen, linked to a computer, that shows the news and other information.
The idea was generated in August 2002, and in November, the CMD collaborated with Wise, Inc. to set up the dual home and medical office. It is inside what used to be a warehouse for Wise, Inc. $20 million Lily Endowment grant was given last December to the CMD to fund the Digital Exchange. which helps provide students with technological experience.
Graduate student Betsy Pike aided in an eye-tracking study for MIT Technology Review's Web site. An eye-tracking device, which looks like a pair of goggles with wires, tracks where a person looks on a monitor when searching for information on a Web site. The eye-tracking study will help the Web site place important information in the most looked at locations on the screen.
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
