Perhaps in 10 years’ time, you’ll not need to waste time reading this feature: just hand the magazine to the family Scanbot 2015 and the pages will be dutifully digested on your behalf. Conclusion: robots will soon do everything for us.
Actually, we all know – or at least hope – that’s not likely to happen any time soon. However, the technology of robotics improves apace and at least some of today’s fantasies will become tomorrow’s reality. Indeed, the automated home is already upon us, with robotic devices aiding domestic life in more ways than you may ever have imagined. In the home, robotics is all about simplifying everyday chores, thus freeing up time to enjoy life. At least, that’s the theory. Anyone who’s ever struggled to program a video recorder or cursed trying to set a digital central-heating timer will attest that automation isn’t always so automatic.
The point is that home automation is all around us. Indeed, the robot-rife house has been with us forever, from the literally revolutionary twin-tubs that promised to turn post-war washday blues into whiter-than-white whites, to state-of-the-art cappuccino-makers that percolate tastier cups of coffee than the best baristas.
Talking of hot beverages, NE1 4T? Written another way, would you like a nice cuppa? If so, dig out your mobile phone, as the techno-chimps at PG Tips recently announced the development of a kettle that can be turned on with a text message. The ReadyWhenUR will pitch up in shops come January, with the price to be confirmed. Now all that’s needed is a robot able to place a teabag in the cup, pour on boiling water, allow to brew before adding milk and sugar – all in time for breakfast. Hold on, did someone mention Teasmade?
Suck on this
Frankly, in terms of home automation, the ReadyWhenUR looks a bit rubbish. However, there are potentially more useful home-helpers on the horizon. US company Irobot is perhaps best known for Roomba, a disc-shaped vacuum cleaner that scurries about the home under its own, microchip-manufactured initiative, sucking up muck as it goes. But that’s old hat: the company’s latest roving robot washes floors! Called Scooba, this automated gizmo rotates a dampened brush as it moves. As with Roomba, Scooba’s computer circuitry ensures that it won’t wet your feet, or make like a lemming across the staircase threshold. However, while Roomba is widely available online, Scooba currently has no Irish distribution. Americans pay $399 to have this robot polish the parquet, so expect to pay around €450 or so when it arrives here sometime this year.
Teacher, leave those kids alone!
Perhaps a more unconventional way for robots to help around home is with a bit of tutoring. Sit the kids down in front of the PC and attach Lego’s Robotics Invention System 2.0 to a USB socket and the younglings will be able to turn their primary-coloured-brick creations into automatons. The education is in the interaction: children can learn both about logic, physics and construction. And then they can smash up the bricks and start over. Find out more at www.lego.com.
TV times
While the kids are otherwise occupied with their stick-‘em-together robots, consider settling down for some home entertainment. But to take the strain out of juggling the multitude of remotes that are doubtless balanced on the sofa arm, we’d recommend buying a ‘universal’ zapper instead. The very latest models, like Logitech’s Harmony range (from EUR*??? to EUR*??? ; see www.logitech.com for more information), even automate that oh-so-irksome chore of pressing buttons, so one stab is sufficient to, say, turn on both the TV and DVD player, flip to the correct channel, optimise the colour, brightness and volume and then play the movie disc. Perhaps the ultimate robot for couch-potatoes.
The connected kitchen
Then there’s the ‘aspirational’ home-helper gadgets that aren’t all that practical: even if you could meet the several-thousand-euro price tag, would you really want to install LG’s famed ‘internet fridge’ (or GRD-267DTU to give its less prosaic name) just to find out if the milk is off? This web-accessing cooler has become part dotcom lore. LG’s netted-up range of kitchen appliances also includes a microwave that downloads recipes from a dedicated website, and a washing machine that can be controlled via the Web, so that you really can get your knickers in a twist just by using Internet Explorer – but they will end up nice and clean.
Animal tragic
Finally, though somewhat fancifully, household pets are becoming automated. Don’t read this as meaning Tiddles will soon be clearing out her own litter tray. We’re talking about trading fur for fictile materials – plastic pooches and carbon cats. Yesterday it was Sony’s yapping Aibo but tomorrow it could be the Icat from Philips that’s purring its way into your affections. Or not. This USB-connected Icat is capable of adopting all manner of facial expressions that respond to vocal instructions from humans. When connected to an internet connection you can ask the Icat to get the latest weather, download music or even search for movie trailers. It’s part of Philips’ ongoing research into future technology (www.research.philips.com/technologies/index.html), so don’t expect it in homes soon.
More than media
Microsoft designed its Media Center software to provide a one-stop-shop for home-entertainment desires, meaning one box could be used as a Hi-Fi, video recorder, DVD-player and so forth. However, some clever souls have designed software ‘plug-ins’ for the Media Center operating system that enables it to control much more than multimedia content.
Home Automation Inc’s Home Control package, for example, allows owners of Media Center systems to command household lights, security systems, central-heating thermostats and so forth. If you’re lucky enough to be in possession of a Media Center, then discover more about Home Control at www.homeauto.com. We’d also advise a visit to www.thegreenbutton.com, where you’ll find an online community of Media Center owners keen to share news about the latest plug-ins.
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