Citizens are increasingly crowdfunding IoT based participatory sensing technologies that allow them to collect and share data about the environment. These initiatives are usually referred to as grassroots and are driven by a vision of widening access to tools for political action. In this paper we compare patterns of participation and user experience over 15 months in two distinct communities using 'Smart Citizen', a crowdfunded IoT participatory sensing tool. Our studies reveal that technology issues and a lack of reliability of the sensed data hindered user participation. However, in one of the communities, many of these challenges were overcome through orchestrated actions led by community champions. We discuss how crowdfunding doesn't necessarily translate into active participation and provide guidelines on how to achieve sustained engagement in crowdfunded IoT community sensing projects: enable distributed orchestration provided by local champions, encourage social interactions that embed skills and learning, and facilitate meaningful participation and reward mechanisms among community members.

Research P Pe er rs so on na al l F Fa ab br ri ic ca at ti io on n: : F Fa ab b L La ab bs s a as s P Pl la at tf fo or rm ms s f fo or r C Ci it ti iz ze en n--B Ba as se ed d I In nn no ov va at ti io on n, , f fr ro om m M Mi ic cr ro oc co on nt tr ro ol ll le er rs s t to o C Ci it ti ie es s A Ab bs st tr ra ac ct t. . The "digital fabrication" revolution being lived today, both in knowledge creation and in technological developments will become more than a simple formal exploration in architecture and design, or a set of tools exclusive to advanced industries. New tools and processes are becoming more accessible to the masses and are being shared all over the world through Internet platforms, with an open source philosophy, both in software and hardware. The collective mind that is being empowered everyday will define the future of production in the life of mankind and its relation with the environment. The role of architects, engineers, designers and many other professionals, will be reshaped and reconfigured to fit into new models of production and creation. These will need to be supported by new manufacturing platforms, knowledge generating and sharing know-how.

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Low-cost sensing technologies that stream data into web platforms have become increasingly available for households, blurring the boundaries between the public and the private. In this paper we draw on our experience with the Smart Citizen crowdsensing project to present a vision of a future where households become city infrastructure through the data they produce. We highlight the challenges involved with this vision in the hope that they will contribute to both academic and industry discussions on the possibilities and difficulties around home-based crowdsensing technologies.

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