graphic from
http://www.design.philips.com/vof/toc1/home.htm

"...most every electrical appliance and device will be networked together, making every room in the house an interactive environment," Professor Ibert Alstein

FACER is pleased to present the following interview with Professor Ibert Alstein. We sent our own Tori McDonnell out to interview Ibert, the renowned futurologist.

Professor Alstein's vision of the home of the future will change your expectations of the future, forever. Interactive houses in the 21st Century will completely revolutionize our home lifestyles. Tori caught up with Ibert, at his Malibu beach house, on the threshold of the new millennium...


Tori: Ibert, it's an honour to interview you for our Intranet publication - FACER Ezine

Ibert: It is a pleasure to be here.

Tori: Considering technology is changing so rapidly, an interview with you is almost like taking a trip at high warp speed. Help us take an imaginary trip into the future and explain how Multimedia will impact our lives at home.

Ibert: Well Tori, most every electrical appliance and device will be networked together, making every room in the house an interactive environment. This means we'll be able to access our computer's desktop from, say, the microwave, or talk to a business associate via a real time audio and video conferencing system while we are surfing the Internet in our bedroom. If an electronic device on the home network fails, we'll be able to diagnose, and in some cases fix the problem, from any room in the house.

Tori: Can you give our readers some examples of how this new technology will directly affect them?

Ibert: Even something as simple as today's dreaded alarm clock will, in the future, be more interactively suited to fit into our daily schedules.

Tori: You mean it will be possible for the future alarm clock to check traffic conditions, supply us with the best travel route and calculate the time it will take to get to work?

Ibert: Yes, however more and more work in the future will be done from our homes. Of course our day planners will be integrated electronically with virtually every device in our home. Videophone watches will connect us instantly to our social and business arenas. Even our clothes will link us with our homes and businesses. Embedded in our jackets will be interactive entertainment centres and global positioning devices. Music, video, games and travel routing information will be piped directly to us as individuals. Our body temperature will be sensed and the temperature of a room will adjust accordingly; the lighting will be increased or decreased, depending on your presence. Also, we will be able to watch T.V. or surf the Internet from every room via "virtual wallpaper" which is a large but thin interactive screen. Imagine being able to access almost any facet of your life from any room in your house.

Tori: The interactive kitchen should be interesting as well.

Ibert: Cooking will be a breeze. The interactive tool, "The Expert Chef", will assist the homemaker by looking up recipes, going through the steps of buying ingredients and scheduling the cooking times of a meal. Amazingly enough, different chefs can be chosen from around the world to aid us interactively in the kitchen of the future.

Tori: I guess there's hope for my cooking yet. I'm also looking forward to a time when most home appliances are cordless and are powered by rechargeable batteries.

Ibert: I think you have touched upon the importance of developing cross-platform standards for our home electronics.

Tori: Do you think a kitchen will clean itself?

Ibert: I wouldn't go that far Tori. However, even garbage cans will likely be interactive in the near future. Automatically these recycling wonders will sort, compact and seal our waste so we can more efficiently dispose of it.

Tori: I wish we had more time to talk with you, but I guess we will have to leave the rest of the future to our imagination. Thank you very much for joining us today.

Ibert: The pleasure was mine. The future is yours.


Bibliography
http://www.design.philips.com/vof/toc1/home.htm accessed - October 9, 1999
http://experience.motorola.com/full.html accessed - October 9, 1999
http://www.nec-global.com/feature2/dreamsb2.html accessed - October 9, 1999

 

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