The connected home, the smart house, the intelligent house. These are terms we are hearing a lot more lately and there seems to be a lot of interest here in Australia as we get closer to implementation of the NBN. The innovations in this area generally involve some form of smart technology that uses the internet combined with advanced forms of local area networks to give us greater control over things like energy efficiency, comfort, security and appliances. But there are also potential developments in the area of healthcare and social services.
Some of the most interesting technologies, like using voice recognition and physical movement to control devices, seem to have an overlap with the latest innovations in media devices, particularly smart televisions. There have been some rather fanciful ideas floated, like the fridge that would order our shopping when it ran low, but what do you think are some of the most interesting developments we might see in the so-called smart house in the next three to five years?
