The wireless home of the future is here.
There is a detached house in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, that doesn't
look like the home of the future from the outside, but a look
inside reveals some serious wireless wizardry.
This is the Orange At Home research project. Although the house is
not yet a completely wire-free zone, Orange says this goal will be
achieved in phase two of the project, which is due to begin this
month. Phase two will also see the use of more Bluetooth
technology.
Mobile telecoms operator Orange has teamed up with the University
of Portsmouth, the University of Surrey and France Telecom's
R&D department on the project, which aims to find out how
consumers interact with new wireless products and services.
The house was designed around a fictional family of three, the
Kendalls. This "typical family of 2005" includes travel journalist
dad, housewife mum, teenage son James, daughter Melissa and baby
Christopher. Since the project began, two families have assumed the
role of the Kendalls, living in the house for fortnightly periods,
with one more family due to enter the house this month.
The project has two key considerations. First is the desire to
create a series of sophisticated control functions for the
subsystems in the house, such as heating and lighting. The second
is to provide users with "ubiquitous home control" of those systems
through a variety of different interfaces.
One of the main access media used in the house is the Compaq iPaq
handheld PC, which provides wireless access to all of the systems
and appliances in the home, including audio/video equipment,
lighting, heating and the security systems. Further access is
provided by wall-based control panels.
The systems in the house also support text messaging and there is a
Wap and Web interface. This enables remote access via a mobile
phone using Wap, SMS or dial tone. The centrally controlled door
locks, for example, can be locked or unlocked using any wireless
control device or by pressing a button on a key fob. This means
users can unlock doors for visitors while away from the house or
from the comfort of the sofa.
As for security, the systems in the house only recognise the four
phones used by the members of the household. The phones require a
six-digit Pin number. The house systems also use speech recognition
software, which means that occupants can bark out voice commands
while munching on their cornflakes. The only problem is that the
house does not have room-based microphones so users have to wear
Bluetooth-enabled broadcast headsets.
The voice recognition system is speaker-independent, enabling it to
be used by anyone. And Orange is currently developing the
personality of the system's monotone voice and helping it to cope
better with background noise. The company has also developed a
personalised e-learning service with a virtual assistant for the
children.
In the daughter's room there is a whiteboard that connects to the
computer, relaying the images onto the screen. "The kids loved it,"
says Paul Waldron, Orange's senior technical consultant on the
project. "They were totally taken with it."
A home portal enables members of the household to access up-to-date
information tailored to their needs and a wireless Lan enables the
occupants to work wire-free both inside and outside the house.
Although Orange is still waiting for its ADSL link, it does have a
2mbps Internet connection that supports video streaming which is
"almost close to being watchable".
The house also makes use of environmentally-friendly technology.
Orange worked with heating control company smartKontrols to develop
an "intelligent zoned heating system" that reduces heating bills. A
hot air recovery system draws warm, stale air out of the kitchen
and bathrooms, dehumidifies it and then uses it to heat cooler
parts of the house.
The house uses automated water systems and water from baths, sinks
and showers is recycled and used to flush the toilets. There are
also novel applications such as an automatic "robotic" lawnmower
and a home cinema in the master bedroom that are guaranteed to
bring out the couch potato in anyone.
However, the research suggests that not all of the technology is a
hit with the residents. According to Jon Carter, the strategic
relations manager in charge of the project, people don't like to
use flashy ways of turning on lights, such as the Panja wall
panels. They prefer the traditional method of flicking a switch.
The usability of the new push-button eco-friendly water system is
also proving to be problematic. "Turning on taps is a cultural
thing," says Carter. "It will take a long time to change."
Users also dislike using styluses to operate the iPaqs, preferring
to use their fingers. The bulkier Panja room controls were more
popular with the families than the iPaqs, especially in the master
bedroom, says Carter. The Panja controls, which are the size of a
chunky book, have the added advantage that they don't get lost down
the back of the sofa.
Not surprisingly, the Orange At Home project is not simply a case
of trying out novelty items. The company cites a report on the
connected home services market by research firm Cahners In-Stat,
published last year, which estimates that the US market will grow
by over 27 times in the period from 1999 to 2004.
Couch potato technology
1. A home cinema in the bedroom
2. A robotic lawnmower that drives cuttings back into the
lawn
3. A self-diagnosing heating system that automatically calls a
plumber if there is a problem
4. Voice-activated gadgets and light settings
5. On leaving the Orange house, a central control panel in the
hall turns off all non-essential systems and appliances and
triggers the security system at the touch of a button.