Industrial News

Leaders from the construction and regeneration industries, broadband providers, utilities and the developers and manufacturers of smart home technology will be meeting with government agencies at “Building Smart Homes and Communities...everyone profits”

Smart home technology has the potential to transform our everyday life, making it more comfortable, convenient, secure and environmentally friendly. Until recently it has largely been the preserve of wealthy trend-setters interested in glamourous high-tech entertainment and home automation systems. Local authorities are starting to grasp the potential of smart home technology in sheltered housing schemes and as a way to provide community services.

Now, say industry insiders, demand from the general public is steadily growing – witness the growing interest in devices like networked home PCs, multi-media centres and set-top boxes which allow you to surf the net via the TV – and they are urging architects, house-builders and developers to be ready to meet it.

“The smart home lifestyle could well be the norm within the next five years,” says Mike Windsor of forum organisers TAHI (The Application Home Initiative) a group of companies and universities involved in the digital environment. “More and more new homes are coming onto the market ‘digital ready’ and this will undoubtedly help the smart home become mainstream. The potential benefits are enormous, not only for builders and technology suppliers, but for individual householders and the community as a whole.”

A smart house is defined as one where all electronic equipment and services - from the washing machine, gas meter, lighting and heating to the television and sound system - are networked and can be controlled remotely, for instance via a PC or mobile phone.

For example, home security can be monitored from the office or holiday beach; emails can be sent and read on the TV screen; the fridge will order shopping on the internet and if you leave the lights on or a tap running a monitor will raise the alarm that resources are being wasted, or turn them off. Telecare and telemedicine services enabled by smart technology allow elderly people to enjoy living independently for longer, and unnecessary trips to the doctor or hospital are a thing of the past.

“Building Smart Homes and Communities….everyone profits” is at the BT Tower, London on May 17, 2006.

http://buildingsmarthomes.tahi1.com/index.html

For more information contact:
Mike Windsor
TAHI Marketing Director
Tel: 01491 835049
Mob: 07733 263423

Helen Lynas
Helen Lynas Communications
Tel: 0118 947 0023
Mob: 07906 163375

Editor’s notes
TAHI is a not for profit group of innovative companies and universities dedicated to accelerating connected home services. http://www.theapplicationhome.com/

TAHI members recently completed a programme of high-level dti-backed trials in conjunction with Loughborough and Heriot Watt universities to demonstrate and promote interoperability between different appliances and services and to test consumer attitudes to smart appliances which were installed in their own homes.

TAHI plays a role in industry and government forums and promotes the benefits of smart house technology to consumers, including local authorities, housing developers, health and welfare bodies and manufacturers.