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I wouldn't describe it as a breakthrough interface or a completely novel idea; this is more 'design doing good" sort of thing, 'design as an act of love'. Not surprisingly, the concept description starts with a steep ideological introduction:"The World Health Organization estimates that 40% of all buildings currently in use pose a serious health hazard due to indoor air pollution. Philips came up with a design concept that to help address the issue of poor indoor air quality and that would be as easy to use as setting the temperature.
Air Tree
"Air Tree is an elegant and decorative design for a device that could provide major health benefits for those with breathing related conditions, such as asthma, by offering personal control over indoor air quality through means of cleaning, humidifying or dehumidifying the air, as needed."
"Air Tree has two operating modes, 'Humidity' and 'Clean'. Simply selects the mode they want and the device will then operate automatically.
"In 'Humidity' mode, select the desired level through the interface 'twig' - a simple and easy to use control panel set into the Air Tree - and the built-in software will then continually monitor the atmosphere and will determine if it needs to humidify or dehumidify to maintain the level selected by the user. A light at the base of the tree indicates when the container, that collects water from the atmosphere when dehumidifying, is full. There is a small twig at the base of the device into which the user pours water to fill the reservoir that the 'Air Tree' uses for humidifying the air.
"In 'Clean' mode, the Air Tree filters and refreshes the air without extracting or releasing water into the atmosphere. The device is left alone to operate without any interaction by a person, even during long periods such as when a family is away on holiday. Air is drawn in via the base and passes through the filter before emerging from the air outlet twig at the top.
"The humidity mode is manageable and set by simply stroking the touch strip on the control twig; clockwise to increase humidity, counter clockwise to decrease it. A light display at the top of the twig indicates the level set and this is followed by a short animation showing whether the air is to be humidified or dehumidified. Squeezing the side of the twig will switch the Air Tree to 'Clean' mode and a short animation of pulsating lights indicates that the cleaning process is underway."
Again, the concept makes (a lot of) sense, and surely 'adds beauty' to the world. However, I immediately have a picture of very close, very sterile environment - like a hospital ward - where such system could be placed.
I don't see it fitting the mess of an ordinary home (which is also an 'open system'). And of course, from a design point of view it is far, far away from being a 'neutral' device. Quite an opposite, it is a very strong aesthetic intervention that not every home can withstand.
Other concepts
Mood Mixer
Momento
