Aapo’s selected works

Please note that only a small fraction of Aapo's projects can be shown here in public.

Residential Building UI

KONE is the 4th largest manufacturer of elevators and escalators.
I worked at their research & development and was given a task to ‘improve the user interface of a building’.

The task was very open. Because residential buildings are by far the biggest segment and because their elevators had not changed much for ages, I started my task with them.
I started by observing people in residential buildings. It became obvious that there are several steps when they entered their apartment buildings, and most of these steps can be automatized.
We created a prototype and tested it in an apartment building. We told the residents that the device is a prototype and will be removed after a few months. The residents called their landlord and begged to him to keep the device in the building, even though it is still a prototype. The residends came to love the system.

The system is based on magnetic access tags.
The users show their tag to a reader device at the front door. Then the magic happens. The front door unlocks and opens by a motor. The hallway lights turn on. The elevator is called to the entrance floor and it waits for the user to enter the elevator. When he enters, the elevator takes him automatically to his home floor.
The system does not open the user’s home door, because the users did not feel safe with such a system.
The feedback for this system has been exceptionally positive.
Later, from this and other projects, me and my colleagues received seven patents: Communication system (WO2007093665), Tracking System (WO2008043878), Elevator System (FI118533B), Communication System (FI7844U), Method and Call System (US2008217112), Guidance System (FI119134B), Sign System (FI118963B), Method for preventing collision (FI118963B).