Industry works to build smart homes of future
INTELLIGENT ROOMS aim to track movement, recognise gestures and understand spoken commands to control lights, project information on the walls and tell you, or the world, who called while you were out.
There is also AI (artificial intelligence) software dubbed 'intrinsically motivated learning agents' to make intelligent environments, or smart homes, more intelligent.
This means spaces that adjust themselves according to their inhabitants' habits, location-aware sensors that help people find their way around buildings, and computer chips that configure themselves to best suit different applications.
However, that is far from today. Now the smart digital home is an entertainment arena par excellence, but that is it.
'We are enabling service providers to power the digital home of the future by providing software platforms and devices that support triple-play services - voice, data and video,' said Michiel Verhoeven, general manager, Asia-Pacific, Greater China and Japan, Microsoft communications sector business.
'With Microsoft TV's IPTV platform, consumers can experience advanced TV services over broadband networks. Xbox 360 and Xbox Live! enable the home user to use their internet access for online gaming, chats, downloading and sharing content, and engaging in web services.
Microsoft Windows mobile devices offer professionals a smarter mobile lifestyle. By deploying Microsoft's connected services framework, operators can efficiently deliver IPTV along with a range of other communications and entertainment services, such as instant messaging, e-mail, voice and gaming, all over the same infrastructure.
Telecommunications service providers in the Asia-Pacific region are well positioned to deliver the connected lifestyle vision to businesses and consumers.
'Service providers such as BT, Chunghwa Telecom and Korea Telecom are already seeing that the combination of ubiquitous broadband networks, service integration and the magic of software are the winning ingredients to deliver the personalised services consumers demand in the digital home of the future,' Mr Verhoeven said.
Microsoft strongly believes that IP technology will have a profound impact on the future, and it expects telecoms service providers to eventually deliver all of their services over their IP backbone. Microsoft is partnering with telecoms service providers to enable them to deliver their connected lifestyle vision and offer rich and personalised experiences across all aspects of a consumer's life, whether at home, at work, or on the move.
But what about the hardware to run the software - can the existing wiring of the home be used to distribute information?
Hagen Wenzek, who is responsible for IBM corporate strategy, said: 'The existing wiring in the home has a lot of limitations due to noise, disconnected circuits and so on, but that is not the problem. There are enough technical capabilities to overcome and a lot of information to distribute. The real question is what information should be distributed? Which set of data creates value? A TV stream? Security? Energy consumption combined with weather information?'
Dr Wenzek said that by looking at the value a consumer could get from data or information, one could come up with the right answers - even for the wiring in the house today. If not, then there were various wireless technologies.
'There are many cases where wireless technology works best for existing homes. Nobody needs to check existing wiring and install the corresponding technology if there is too much noise. But wireless data often cannot reach through concrete or gets too slow,' Dr Wenzek said.
For all of this, there are technical solutions. These are not only in the labs but are market-ready products.
'In IBM's case, we are building them ourselves. But as long as they are packaged in complicated and complex boxes, frustration and returns happen all the time. One easy way to overcome this until the easy, out-of-the-box smart home is ready is to use professionals. Few people wire their car stereo on their own, so the people that know [about wiring] can make the infrastructure in the home happen.'
Products for the digital home are few, other than home entertainment products.
'It is hard to estimate any demand for the smart home until there are solutions that really create value or wake a special desire,' Dr Wenzek said.
'Imagine a really easy-to-use and install solution that reduces energy bills by 20 per cent and makes the home safer and more comfortable, or one where you are sure about the well-being of yourself or your parents even though you or they suffer a chronic disease because the home serves as infrastructure for tele-health care. The moment standardised, affordable and simple solutions come to market that create a superior user experience, demand will excel any estimations.'
Hitachi Global Storage Technologies envisions the average family having 15 to 20 hard drives in their home in unexpected, but essential, places within five years.
Hitachi Global Storage Technologies president Greater China Dirk Thomas said: 'One emerging challenge with all these devices in the future digital home is how to store all that data. Imagine the data storage requirements for the home server, desktop and laptop computers, video jukeboxes, MP3 players, digital video recorders, TVs, digital cameras and more.'
