The automotive lineup for CES 2012 next week includes the debut of the Ford Evos concept car, a sensor-rich vehicle that is designed to connect to the cloud, all for the benefit of user experience. What a great approach! Why aren’t all occupiable spaces, including cars, designed like this? Let’s look at the car concept. What do the cloud and sensors bring to driving experience? In short, it could make driving as forward-thinking as an iPhone. The concept car features include connectivity with entertainment and content; energy management based on environment and locality; parental controls; and smartphone integration. Other auto companies are working on similar ”cloud connected” and sensor-rich concept cars, and it’s hard to knock any of them for taking another five years — the estimated time to get real vehicles into showrooms — to perfect the technology. I can’t wait!

That said, during this five-year span, countless buildings, schools, Starbucks, Walmarts, etc. will be built without the forward-thinking technology frameworks for really enhanced user experiences. There are sensors, sure – like temperature management, which can effect productivity by gigantic numbers. But why is it not pervasive and evident, in ways that people can really notice and appreciate? Is it cost? Is it the building process? Is it the profit model? Maybe it’s all of these, but if there is meaningful benefit to user experience, shouldn’t the architect be thinking about technology frameworks – the way they think about new exotic building materials that only they have access to? It should be noted that it isn’t only architects that can leverage these tools and frameworks – retail marketers, advertisers, product managers, and property owners can reap benefits.  But architects have more opportunity to thread infrastructural thinking into the program and design of the space.  (I have spent much of my career working in both architecture and technology, which is why I pick on architects.)

What could an architect do with a rich technology infrastructure like the Evos concept? I’m open to suggestions, but the answer is likely a combination of the internet of things (sensors and other hardware), my digital self (i.e. Facebook, Linkedin, and particularly smartphones, which are broadcasting all the time), a robust web-services community, and great user experience design.

Here are some things that it’s not: The Jetsons, where everything has a robotic arm. It’s also not exactly “responsive architecture,” at least the physical part where buildings deform to meet changing conditions or provide some interactivity. And it’s not a marketing element, like lobby displays, although the best ones, like the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas, are beautiful and certainly benefit user experience.

If not robotic arms for better services, then what? We can use tech infrastructure to augment and improve the delivery of services. A great example is the gate redesign work that’s happening at some of the major airports. Why should the airport gate look like a bus station and serve terrible food anymore? OTG Management, an innovative airport food and beverage operator, has revolutionized the gate holding area by making major restaurant improvements (actually good food) and extending that enhanced experience throughout the terminal with food delivery service via iPad-based menus and ordering systems, along with charging stations and comfortable seating. Now travelers are able to relax and dine from any seat.

Also, instead of deforming a building physically, perhaps we can deform it digitally. Shopkick allows a retailer to install a small transmitter that can communicate with local phones. Shoppers can pull out their mobile devices and get rewards and offers based on their digital and physical histories. Invisible to those that don’t want it, but a new experience for hardcore shoppers.

Instead of “screensaver” signage for effect — again, some are beautiful — perhaps we can conform the content to the viewer base. Techstars startup Immersive Labs is developing an outdoor advertising technology that uses cameras (as sensors) and facial recognition to tailor content to viewers, as in Minority Report. Not everyone wants “billboards” at their school or hotel, but this same capability is a fantastic tool for user experience design.

These aren’t the end-all, be-all examples but useful data points. There are many. For instance, Walmart Labs is making lots of social and mobile aquisitions – Grapple and Small Society, and I haven’t seen the new master store…but then again, I don’t get to Walmart much living in Manhattan.

For most users, this sense of super connectivity could be disturbing. As mentioned above, it’s going to be up to the designer, particularly the user experience designer, to turn this potential nightmare into a pleasant dream. User trust is essential – see Toby’s article on 5 Practices for Securing User Confidence for more.

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