News

Internet Home Alliance Announces Results of Laundry Time Pilot (24/11/2006)

Laundry Room of the Future Found to Simplify Laundry Task

New research from Internet Home Alliance, a cross-industry network of leading companies advancing the connected home market, promises that an "intelligent" laundry solution can, indeed, simplify and save time on this time-consuming home chore.

According to the results of the Alliance's Laundry Time Pilot, an eight-week, real-world test of a connected laundry room, Laundry Time is a viable solution that represents an improvement over regular washer and dryer functionality. Pilot participants said that connecting washers and dryers to a central home system makes sense and promises to be a beneficial component in a home control system. Remote notification stood out as a key benefit, enabling participants to handle the laundry chore more efficiently thus processing more loads during the day.

Conducted in three Atlanta homes from May 30 through September 7, 2006, the study involved products, services and intelligence from some of the nation's top technology and consumer products companies including Whirlpool Corporation, Hewlett Packard, Microsoft Corp., Panasonic and Procter & Gamble. In 2005, the Internet Home Alliance tested its successful Mealtime pilot which demonstrated how a connected kitchen can simplify meal preparation tasks. Both studies were conducted by Zanthus, a technology marketing research firm, under the direction of the Alliance.

The Laundry Time system connects a washer and dryer to a home network and delivers messages about the status of laundry and washer/dryer progress to home PCs, TVs, and cell phones. The system was developed with the goal of providing consumers with greater appliance and time efficiency. Its revolutionary technology enables consumers to manage the laundry process from remote locations such as a grocery store or soccer game, freeing them up to go about their day rather than forcing them to stay home to manage the process.

"I love the pop-up notifications as I tend to forget everything when I am working," said Laundry Time Pilot participant Lisa Gunning of Roswell, Georgia. "It really does save time as it allows me to get my laundry done while I am doing other things."

In addition to efficiency, Gunning also found family involvement in the laundry process with the remote notification of the system. "On odd days when I just do one load at night, getting the alerts on the TV is great. Even when I'm not watching TV, one of the kids will come and remind me."

In the pilot, the laundry chore was managed by consumers from a front-loading, regular capacity washer and dryer made by Whirlpool and with Laundry Time application software loaded on the primary home PC, a wireless router placed on the home network, an HP Media Center PC, a wireless Media Center Extender and a phone with wireless Web access. Messages were delivered via "pop-ups" that appeared on the TV, PC (using MSN Messenger), and cell phone (using SMS messaging). Message options on the washer included wash complete, malfunction, unbalanced load and door open. The dryer message functions featured cycle complete/wrinkle guard on, malfunction, 85% complete, 50% complete and door open.

In addition, Laundry Time was designed so participants could control the washer (remote start) and dryer (extend the fluff cycle or remote start) when prompted by a pop-up message.

"As we continue to develop new, innovative appliances at Whirlpool Corporation, studies like Laundry Time help us better determine consumer needs and the timing for when the product would be of most benefit to them," said Carol Priefert, senior product development manager, Whirlpool Corporation.

Key findings of the pilot include:

* Of the TV, PC, and cell phone, the TV was the most popular way to get laundry messages. Homeowners tend to do laundry while they are home and either watching TV or have it on for background noise. The TV is often located in a central gathering place in the home.

* The most beneficial messages delivered were finding out when the wash and dry cycles are complete. Laundry doers tend to forget about their laundry once they walk away and get involved in another activity. "Wash complete" and "dry complete" messages act as a reminder so that users can reload machines faster and get more laundry done in a day.

* The ability to remotely activate wrinkle guard/fluff got a nod from some as a "nice to have" remote control function.

* Design and location of TV pop-up messages was generally well-liked. The 20-second duration was sufficient for some, too short for others and most participants would prefer to have control of pop-up message settings to suit their viewing habits.

* The Media Center PC engaged all family members in the pilot, not just the regular laundry-doers. Participants embraced it, not just for its revolutionary way of watching and recording TV, but for its ability to connect the home to multiple systems. They recognized its potential as the central brain of an integrated "smart home."

* Participants did not see a benefit in getting Laundry Time messages on their cell phones. However, because phone keypads were rather difficult to understand and use, it's unclear whether getting messages by phone would appeal to more consumers if phones with more intuitive keypads were used.

* Getting laundry messages on the desktop screen may be beneficial to people who work at home or those who spend their leisure time in front of the PC instead of the TV.

* The potential for remote diagnosis of washer and dryer problems was a positive for most participants. Recommendations based on consumer feedback for further development of the Laundry Time system are:

* Send laundry messages to the TV as the first priority for the system, as it's the screen people attend to most often when doing laundry.

* Include the ability to perform diagnostics on the washer and dryer saving them the hassle of staying home to wait for a repair man.

* Provide users the choice to easily turn off pop-ups when they don't want to be bothered and on when they're multitasking around the house.

"We expect our Laundry Time findings will be applied to the development of products and services as the concept of the smart home more successfully meets the needs of, and fits seamlessly into, the everyday lives of families," said Tim Woods, vice president, Internet Home Alliance.

Laundry Time was tested in concept form in May 2004 when the Alliance launched a comprehensive research study to assess the appeal of notification about various types of events in and around the home. Alliance members have long expressed an interest in understanding consumers' reactions to event-driven notifications as a way of learning whether or not a notification platform of some kind would be a viable connected home solution. The research suggested that remote event notification has the potential to appeal to a broad base of consumers. Top-of-mind reactions to the concept consisted mainly of positive comments around convenience, improved safety and/or security, improved appliance control and time savings.

Laundry Time is the latest project in the CABA Internet Home Alliance Research Council, which brings companies from various industries together to test how their products and services will work collectively in connected home solutions. The study's findings will help the participating companies and other Alliance members develop and launch new connected home products and services.

www.caba.org/iha