Our humble homes have been undergoing an internal makeover with the advent of new technology a slow and subtle shift but it is well underway. Over the last 10 years we have lost the humble turntable, VCR and cassette player.
These have been replaced with iPods, DVD players, Home computers, broadband, digital and HD TV, Large screens, game consoles, are but just a few of the devices that are now having an impact on how we live our lives.
Over the years I have been exposed to many a tour of the home of the future in Japan, South Korea, USA and Australia. They all tend to be set up by a single manufacturer showing what they offer today with a smattering of items from their R&D labs. For the most part the demos have not changed, voice control of our appliances, managing our media across the home on variety of screens etc.
They tend to be very structured scenarios and have a limited view of the average consumer. At a tour of a home of the future in Seoul, a UK journalist asked how much the voice control system cost to set the rice cooker. The demonstrator looked to our host and quickly gave the standard answer that these were prototypes and not for general consumer consumption at this phase. The journo mumbled that a standard electronic timer was just as efficient and cost less than $20 dollars.
The moral is that there is plenty of current technology available that makes our homes more livable. The biggest changes we are seeing in our homes has been the increase in bandwidth in particular wireless, that allows ease of movement of content and services to our multi-screen homes without the need of complex and expensive wiring.
Our devices now talk to each other and constantly keep themselves up to date via the network. This has allowed us greater flexibility in accessing our music, pictures, videos and web services from anywhere within the house. We are no longer tethered to the back bedroom/office. We can work while watching TV, supervising the kids and move our content into any room, including the larger screens now part of our lounge rooms.
Our TV’s and home theatre systems now have large storage devices attached for videos, games, pictures and music. The future digital home is a media hub.