Imagine. By using a remote climate control activated via a cell phone you can signal the heat of the jacuzzi to a specified temperature while you're driving home. Your music system automatically lowers its volume when the phone rings. Your fridge talks to the local grocery store.
Welcome to the wired home. Sounds like something straight out of a sci-fi movie? Check these digital homes. Of course, they all belong to the rich and famous but are, nevertheless, examples of how technology is changing lives.
Let's suppose you were a guest of Larry Ellison, Chairman, Oracle. This is what you'd find at the front door: "Half a ton of stainless steel with an inch thick pane of opaque electro-chromatic glass. When you turn the doorknob, a 125 volt-charge makes the glass transparent so you can see the Japanese rock garden on the other side..."
The cost? About as much as a high-end Mercedes.
Many consumer companies are now working on affordable networking products that will talk to each other in your home. Running low on milk? Swipe the milk carton across the refrigerator bar code and a fresh one could be on your way from the local grocery. Plans are already being made, with companies working towards developing such intelligent devices. The Electrolux refrigerator, for example, is a combination of a fridge and computer.
Bluetooth is another wireless standard being developed to link Internet connected mobile computers, phones and other devices. Nokia and Ericsson are two companies leading the research and development front.
Ever considered online banking from your microwave? This development from NCR Knowledge Lab sparked a lot of interest in 1998. It is a microwave integrated with an Internet-ready computer that allows users to conduct activities like online shopping and email. It could revolutionise the way women cook. This article titled 'Surf the Net… From your Microwave' takes a more humorous look at the story.
Raymond Tang, 29, and his wife Ashley Aw, 27 own a wired home too, in Singapore. It has 24-hour broadband Internet access, video conferencing, touch screens in every corner, Web cams to monitor the interiors, lights, appliances and many other devices.
What next? Asking your washing machine to turn itself on? Having our microwave cook you dinner while you drive home? Have a wireless device report to work in your place while you go shopping? Now, that would be a real breakthrough, wouldn't it?
Additional Links:
-- CEO uses his home as a test lab for the latest gadgetry
-- More Gadgets and Gizmos
-- Gateway and AOL Devices for a Wired Home
-- Glimpse of the Digital Future
-- Wired homes connect with buyers