Future Home Institute
The Future Home Institute (FHI) is a multi-disciplinary research unit established in 1997 as part of the University of Art and Design Helsinki (TaiK).
Its origins are in the Future Home research and development programme, a joint initiative of several public and private organizations and departments of TaiK, aiming at addressing the future challenges of housing and the domestic environment by combining approaches from architecture, product design and technology.
During its history, the institute has realized over 50 research projects together with other research units and companies, mainly funded by Tekes (Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation), Ministry of the Environment, Academy of Finland and companies.
Research Focus
The Unit’s research is focused on situational “user experience” in living environments: living, working, service, and urban areas.
The research aims at producing new knowledge that can give input to user-centered design and development of environments, products and services enabling changing patterns of everyday living.
The research approach combines methodologies of user-centered design research with new strategies like mass customization research and customer-driven business models, seeking for synergy between academia and the industry.