Domestic Residency Protocol
Location
Multi-Site Research Program
Year
2023–Ongoing
Our research methodology made manifest—a framework for deploying speculative prototypes into real homes to test intelligence in the wild.
The Domestic Residency Protocol is Aerithic's answer to the limitations of laboratory testing. Ambient systems cannot be evaluated in sterile environments—they must be tested in the messiness of actual domestic life, across different household structures, routines, and spatial configurations.
We recruit households willing to live with speculative prototypes for extended periods (3-12 months). These aren't beta testers; they're research partners. The Protocol includes baseline behavioral mapping, phased prototype deployment, and continuous ethnographic observation conducted remotely through embedded sensors.
What separates this from traditional user testing is the timescale and the question we're asking. We're not optimizing for engagement or satisfaction. We're mapping the threshold where technology becomes environmental—where it stops being a tool and starts being a condition of the space itself.
The Protocol is now being adopted by R&D labs and design studios working at the edge of ambient intelligence. It's our open contribution to the field—a methodology for testing what comes after the screen.
Methodological Framework
The Protocol operates in four phases:
Phase 1 - Baseline Mapping (2-3 weeks): Passive observation establishes behavioral patterns, spatial usage, and routine structures without any prototype deployment. We're mapping what "normal" looks like before intervention.
Phase 2 - Staged Deployment (6-8 weeks): Prototypes are introduced incrementally. First environmental sensing only, then passive adaptation, finally active intervention. This phased approach isolates which system behaviors trigger threshold crossings.
Phase 3 - Long-Term Integration (3-6 months): The prototype becomes part of daily life. We observe adaptation, habituation, and emergent use patterns that only appear over extended timescales.
Phase 4 - Removal Study (2 weeks): The prototype is removed. This reveals which adaptations were genuine improvements versus novelty effects. What do inhabitants miss? What do they not notice is gone?
Open Methodology
The Protocol documentation is publicly available. We're not protecting intellectual property—we're seeding a methodology. Ambient intelligence needs rigorous testing frameworks that go beyond lab validation. The future must be tested in the field, not the facility.
Twelve research teams have now adopted the Protocol. Our role isn't to own the methodology; it's to refine it through collective practice.