I am a washing machine and I am spoiled!

1999/03/01 Waliño, Josu - Elhuyar Fundazioa Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Elektronika
• Patenteak/Asmakizunak

It is just an example, but quite representative. The Italian house Merloni has allocated 2.6 billion pesetas to develop this new generation of appliances. These devices that have been named “Digital Aristón” we will see for sale at the end of this year and will not be much more expensive than conventional, with a price difference between 5% and 10%.

This company has sold 100,000 expert washing machines worldwide. Although these washing machines are not yet able to connect to the outside, they automatically self-diagnose and store in memory the information about the work they do. In case of incident, the washing machine automatically alerts the technician. We don't have to worry about anything!

There is also an expert oven with other functions. The user can upload the recipes via the Internet with the help of a PC from the website of Aristón and save them later from the electrical network of his home in the memory of the oven. These programs will consist of parameters such as temperature, time or type of heat, and will help us to use the oven without knowing the kitchen. In the future, the oven will also be connected directly to the Internet.

Appliances in the network

This case by Merloni is an example. However, it seems that IBM, Microsoft, Sun and other large companies have followed the path of expert technology. Therefore, we are facing something that comes to us immediately. All of them locate the PC as a network manager.

In the example mentioned above, for example, all appliances communicate through the power grid using the guided wave modem. Thus, they also perform the management of the electric energy available through a processor. According to this, they establish a prioritization system, in which the oven is more important than washing machines or heaters, in order to know who is taken in those cases where energy is required simultaneously.

IBM works in similar jobs and is developing the technology called ‘laptop’. The new technologies that we'll see shortly are the shoes that tell you that the automatic door opening system carries a card on the belt or the number of running kilometers, and that they are starting to work on these IBM.

In the same way, come the ‘pocket’ computers that we have already begun to see. With a liquid glass screen like glasses and a small computer the size of a walkman, we can now connect to the Internet while we are going to work on the train. By the end of this year IBM will launch a computer of this type called Visionpad, with a 233 MHz speed Pentium MMX, a 64 Mb RAM and a 340 Mb hard drive. To be able to connect to this system, they will replace the keyboard and mouse always with the ViVoice software that understands the voice.

Xybernaut has also developed a similar system, but in this case, in addition to the voice, they add as a means of communication a keyboard or a small cat attached to the belt. Laptops will also be annoying shortly.