Wired @ Home

(scroll down for beginning of article series)
Living/Family Room
In the future a family room which contains a 30-46inch TV nowadays, will soon have an extremely large TV that is integrated within the wall of one side of the family room, interchangeable at any time. Speakers will be all over the room so you'll always have a theatre experience at home. You'll have a remote that can do everything like change the lighting to preset degrees as well as control all the electronics such as the TV, DVD player, and speakers. This remote will be used to adjust any other electronics within the house and will change the different options on the remote to whichever room you're currently in. To make changing the volume of the TV in the family room, say in the kitchen, you'd be able to change to the remote buttons to a different room. The remote changes rooms automatically just to simplify things. I mention this remote in this section because most of us would keep this remote in one of these two rooms as it is a room shared by the whole family.
Office
We have a room in our house that has a computer and whatnot and acts as an office at home. I believe most other people have a room like this. Now what I've discovered is that many different companies have different views on what the computer will be in the future. Some say that it definitly won't look like a computer we see today. Some say it will be integrated into walls or part of something, in other words being disguised. I personally am not looking forward to that as I am completely in love with the modern day computer except for the security issues and the speed. If the future can solve those two then there is no point in scraping the beautiful laptop.

Smart houses are the future of where we live and how we live. They will change our work habits and make our lives easier while in the background making it more complicated as the computer did. Smart houses as we refer to them now, will not only be single family homes that we regularly see in the suburbs but that same technology we associate with smart houses will also be in smaller homes like townhouses and condominiums. We are already seeing it take shape right now as companies are testing them with families.
We as human beings, feel it is on our future to move in with technology and make it one with us. Therefore converting the places we live into a piece of technology rather than brick and wood is the perfect way to do it. That being said, let's take look at the different parts of the typical
General
At birth from a time in the future, parents will have the opportunity to implant a chip within their childs' forearms for a small fee yet to be determined. Parents and other adults who didn't have this opportunity at birth will be able to buy this technology as well with people already using it today. What this chip does is: lets other electronics, like computers and smart house computers, know your there and it will be able to track your movements and anything that needs to be done. It is really useful because it replaces keys, brain space for passwords and usernames, and critical certificates like passports and ID. As I mentioned before, the whole house acts like a human, equipped with a brain (computer) and nervous system (appliances and electronics). As the computer gets used to what you do everyday, like brew coffee at 6am and take a bath at 9pm every weekday, it remembers it and stores it as your daily routine. This makes your day faster because it starts to brew coffee before you get there and draws your bath just as you arrive home. You ask, what if traffic is slow? The computer will be working online so it will be able to monitor this and act accordingly. This is all scary to people because computers will have more control and smart house viruses will become a huge threat. All Smart Houses will come equipped with backup power just in case of a major storm or brownout.
Bathroom
Panasonics parent company has developed a toilet that has the industry's lowest water and electricity usage per flush and it requires no tank and no cleaning for 3 months making it the most eco-friendly toilet in the world. (Only available in Japan) It is a glimpse into what we will be seeing in the smart houses in the next decade. In the next century there will be no need for toilet as "it" all evaporates (just wishing). On a cleaner note, a company has developed a multi-colour grout that can be used in tile joints between 1-5mm where the ultra-white is used for indoor bathrooms with tile joints between 1-3mm. This grout will be able to eliminate bacteria growth, mould, and mildew for a lifetime.How about those times when you're shaving or doing your hair, and you want to see the sports highlights or a cooking show? Well, somebody has invented and produced a mirror that can act as a high quality LCD TV. Press the Power button on the remote and the TV comes to life, replacing the mirror image. Turn it off, and the mirror returns to its normal classy self. Obviously this mirror is not just for the bathroom, but it is designed to withstand the heat, wetness, and sweaty conditions of a bathroom. The crazy thing I find with this system is that it comes with hidden speakers behind the mirror! Next is dedicated music for when you're in the shower. Since it's all wirelessly connected, all you need is speakers in your shower or anywhere else and you can access your music anywhere there are speakers, not just in the bathroom. For bathroom speakers though, specially coated speakers will be used so humidity and the steam of the bathroom will not effect its system.

I've heard of concept cars but I've never come across a concept phone until today. No word on what is going to go into the S-Series developed by a student, Simon Enever. Form over function was the main objective of this cell phone as the designer thought that too many phones were made with functions packed into a box. This phone was made for style but still pocessed function being that all major applications (i.e. email, camera, etc) were accessible easily without pushing down the numpad. The different thing about this phone is the wood panelling along the keypad and sides. It still doesn't stand out for me though. It reminds me of the Sony Ericsson W580i and S500 but it would be cool to see Sony Ericsson or Nokia pick up this design and add features to the gleaming package. So if you want to make a statement and stick it to the average cell phone user then advocate to a cell phone maker to produce this phone because even though it's not that different it still deserves a shot at stardom.

Originally developed for the hotel industry, GreenSwitch, has just hit the residential market with force. Ed Begley has stamped it with his approval showcasing it on his show, Living With Ed. Retrofit the system to all the electronics including lights that are on standby or are only used when you are home. With the flick of a switch when you leave home, all those electronics will be switched off. Instead of running around the home and turn off the phone charger, the laptop, TV, lights, and many more, you can just flick the switch. It claims to save around 25%-45% in energy costs and the costs will be recouped in 10months-2 years.

Let me explain how the system works. First you buy the wall plugs that you will use to plug all the electronics you want to be on the GreenSwitch program. You install them and if for example you have an alarm clock and a light on the same plug but you only want the light to be on the system, you buy a split receptacle. As well if you want to turn on an individual light on you can and you can also reprogram the thermostat. There is one central switch which looks like the picture at the bottom. When you turn it off, it doesn't immediately go off. It allows the user 30s to leave the house, get into bed, etc, before turning off. GreenSwitch will help save you time and energy and all you have to do is flick a switch.

I've been looking at phones lately and this phone caught my eye but was high on price so I can't even consider it. We can all dream right. First off if you wear tight jeans don't consider this phone as if you can see in the picture, the butt end of the phone sticks out which might get painful after awhile. The W850 is a medium sized phone with dimensions of 10cm by 5cm by 1.5cm with a weight of 94g. The screen resolution is great at 240x320 pixels considering the battery time is amazing with 370 hours of standby time and 9 hours of talk time. The joystick is an important part of the phone and it lives up to it's standards being just firm enough to not be flimsy. It also doubles as not only a 5-way joystick but also as walkman controls.

Ever wanted to know how it felt to live, sleep, and play underwater? We'll new hotels across the world are planning to open underwater. Places like, Fiji, Florida, Shanghai, Ontario, Macau (the new capital for gambling), and Dubai. The first one to come and probably the most publicized about is the Poseidon Undersea Resort on the edge of a South Pacific Coral cliff in Fiji which is scheduled to open in 2009. The resort was originally planned to open in the Bahamas but because of demand and cost issues, was shifted to Fiji. How does this all relate to technology? Well technology is a part of these projects including the pressurized cabins needed to sustain life, as well as the air cleansing technologies needed to make sure the air is up to par with that of the air on land.

Many believe that space is the next frontier and I was one of them too, until I learned about underwater hotels and condos. I changed my mind because the next step to moon colonies is underwater colonies. Humans can't breate in space and underwater without the aid of technology, but lakes, oceans, and seas are closer testing ground to where we live.

The Poseidon Undersea Resort will be built on land and then transported to Fiji and placed in a deep lagoon. 12 metres below the surface will be 24 hotel suites and apartments with sizes of around 170 square feet each. These don't come cheap with prices rumoured to be $15 000 per person per week but luckily the building has an elevator going to the surface so you don't have to get your feet wet plus a fleet of submarines.

An Australian scientest has already made a 'hotel' and submerged it in a gravel pit with the backing of Australian Geographic. It was the worlds first self-sufficient, self-sustaining underwater habitat. To produce electricity he used solar sensors on the surface plus a stationary bike. Electricity was needed for lights, a computer, and a phone. The amazing this was, was that the air he breathed was purified and recycled by algae soaked in his own urine. Basically, the algae took in the carbon dioxide and released oxygen. He did at first need scuba air tanks to supplement his air supply.

To learn more about the hotel go to Poseidon Undersea Resort.