CA-based self-organizing environments - The case of a configurable adaptive illumination facility

The term Ambient Intelligence (AmI) refers to electronic environments that are sensitive and responsive to the presence of people; in this paper, an example of AmI system whose goal is to enhance the experience of pedestrians moving inside the related physical environment will be presented. The environment is endowed with a set of sensors (to perceive humans or other physical entities such as dogs, bicycles, etc.), interacting with a set of actuators (lights). The model for the interaction and action of sensors and actuators is a dissipative multilayered cellular automata, supporting a self-organization of the system as a response to the presence and movements of people inside it. The paper will introduce the model, as well as the results of simulations of its application in a concrete case study. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.