The new intelligent dormitory 2 (iSpace) is a two bedroom flat, developed from original research using the one room intelligent student dormitory (iSpace) at the University of Essex, for Intelligent Building (IB) research.

This apartment makes possible ubiquitous networked sensors and actuators, the infra-structure for which is accommodated within the specially constructed walls, so that the heterogeneous networking infrastructure is hidden from view.

Designed to provide a flexible test-bed for  research into intelligent buildings and adaptive environments within a pervasive and ubiquitous computing context the iSpace offers the possibility for examining the deployment of embedded agents and sophisticated user interfaces within the intelligent environments of tomorrow.

Researchers will be able to deploy the latest technology to enable autonomous agents to monitor and learn from user behaviour and provide systems to particularise their behaviour to the building’s user in an unobtrusive way where the user is always in control.

At the same time the iSpace will allow those concerned with the social-technical research into the preferred interfaces and user defined development of virtual devices to explore this space with sensitivity and control.

Taken together the development of agents that learn from the user and user preferred interfaces and preferences for virtual devices will be accommodated within the same environment offering a unique test-bed for the development of research into intelligent buildings in a world of pervasive, ubiquitous, and ambient computing.

The iSpace has been designed to allow research into the widest range of possible user including able bodied, disabled and elderly populations with a view to maximising the possible benefit of the new technology for all sections of the community.