Articles and whitepapers

Technology Trends (4/6/2007)

By Steve Martin, Martin Kleiser

When you look at the electronic custom installation business over the past ten years, you will have seen many changes take place regarding products and services offered. But nowhere near as many as you will see in the next ten years! Technology requirements for the home are going to change fairly dramatically and we are starting to see this happen already. Homeowners are becoming savvier to the possibilities, and expecting technology as standard in new builds and refurbishments.

So here are some ideas to provoke thought and offer an insight into some trends that will help to shape the future.

Networks and Content

The Internet is still growing at an alarming rate. In 2006 the digital universe consisted of 161 billion gigabytes. That's 12 stacks of books reaching the 93 million miles from here to the sun. It is predicted that this figure will be six-fold by the year 2010.

This content is where our future lies. Although we will keep our own personal content to some extent, with pictures and some music and movies, why bother storing it if you can have it streamed online?

Wireless multiroom system manufacturer Sonos is already offering a service in the USA, where it has made a deal with membership-based music service Rhapsody to stream content straight to Sonos customers via the Internet, making a NAS (network-attached storage) or home server redundant.

The Sonos wireless multiroom system user interface being used to select streamed music from Rhapsody over the Internet

Fibre is the word

Experts at BT are already presuming that we will have fibre-based networks, delivering unimaginable bandwidth straight into the home, with a DVD being downloadable in two minutes rather than in hours. On a recent programme on Radio 4, Ian Pearson, one of BT's futurologists, argued that we are just scratching the surface when it comes to broadband.

Networks within the home will need similar speeds to be able to cope with the distribution of ultra-high-definition (7680 x 4320 pixel) content, going well beyond the current 1080p (1920 x 1080) high-definition standard. Streaming multiple outputs of content at this level will require bandwidth well beyond standard copper networks.

Optical networks already have speed capabilities above 170 gigabits per second, so it is not a matter of 'if' but 'when' we need fibre optic transmission.

Telecare

With an ever-ageing population and hospitals that offer a great service in passing on different diseases, such as C'difficile, 'Telecare' or 'Remote Healthcare' as it is also known, is set to become a large area for growth. We have to find an alternative method of looking after the sick. Studies show that elderly people live two years longer when cared for at home rather than in hospitals.

Remote diagnostics and crucial life monitoring via wireless home networks will become part of the home network as the NHS becomes more and more buried by demand.

Remote monitoring at home via wireless network

A green future

With a continued expansion in 'green' technologies in the home, and retailers such as B&Q selling wind turbines and photo voltaic panels for the do-it-yourself market, it seems that everyone is turning one shade of green or another.. hell even I now catch the train!

Wind turbine and solar panel for the do-it-yourself market

We look forward to a future that makes sure a room is occupied before it is heated, cooled or lit. Perhaps we could even go so far as to have TVs not being on unless watched - that would certainly save a lot of power in my house - what with the children always leaving them on!

Such functionality will require the house knowing where you are and what you are doing through the use of electronic tagging. This is being tried in various formats, and you don't need an ASBO (anti-social behaviour order) to get one! Mobile phones, RFID (radio frequency identification), movement sensors, security tags and GPS are all capable of tracking a person's position.

The IP future

The new breed of multiroom audio, video and control systems that are coming to market are IP-based. I can stream video from my PVR (personal video recorder) at home, to my laptop, no matter where I am in the world. I was recently speaking at a conference in Las Vegas, where I was able to watch 'Eastenders' on my PC in the evening, whilst monitoring my showroom premises to make sure the staff were keeping the place tidy. The quality was poor and juddery, but that's because at the moment we have the equivalent of a minor country road to deal with the Internet traffic whereas we actually need a dual carriageway. Indeed in the future, demand will require an eight-lane motorway! If you disagree, ask yourself this question: 'How big was your hard drive five or ten years ago compared to now?'

On a final note, you may eventually find yourself asking 'What hard drives?' Dell is set to transfer to solid state memory in laptops in the next two years, and Apple is going the same way with iPods and laptops!

Steve Martin is the Managing Director of Martin-Kleiser Ltd, Vice Chair and Education Chair of CEDIA UK, and CEO of Tenvera UK 'Fibre in the home'.

www.martin-kleiser.com