A European Union-backed research project, called Amigo
aims to provide quick and efficient end-to-end operability of
network devices in the home.
"By taking an open-source approach, we believe we can speed up
the development of interoperable middleware to run home networks
using devices from multiple suppliers," said Harmke de Groot, a
researcher at Koninklijke Philips Electronics.
"We aim to use as many of the existing standards and
specifications as possible," he said.
By giving out the middleware as open source, together with
architectural rules and documentation, the group believes it can
support interoperability of devices currently locked into either
partly connected or totally unconnected domains, such as consumer
electronics, computers, mobile communications, home automation and
security, according to De Groot.
In addition to open-source middleware, the Amigo project hopes
to develop "open and intelligent services that go beyond what many
manufacturers envision today", De Groot said. "We need to think
outside the box."
In this context, De Groot talked about the role of "ambient
intelligence". Ambient intelligence, according to the Amigo web
page, is characterised by four basic elements: ubiquity, awareness,
intelligence and natural interaction.
Ubiquity refers to a situation in which people are surrounded by
multiple interconnected embedded systems, which are invisible in
their environment.
Awareness means the ability of the system to locate and
recognise objects and people and their intentions, while
intelligence involves a digital surrounding being able to analyse
the context, adapt itself to the people who live in it and learn
from their behaviour.
Natural interaction relates to advanced modalities such as
natural speech and gesture recognition, as well as speech
synthesis, which could enable a much more human-like communication
in a digital environment than is possible today.
A total 15 companies are participating in the Amigo project,
including the telecommunication companies France Télécom and
Telefónica, the German subsidiary of Microsoft and the Institute
for Natural Language Processing at the University of Stuttgart.
John Blau writes for IDG News Service