Monday, September 8, 2014

Technology: When the Internet lives in the fridge – Berliner Morgenpost

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08.09.14, 02:15

technology

IFA: things networking more and more. This has also arrived in the household. On the tablet can open windows and heating control

By Jürgen Stüber

Still not enough lemon sorbet in the freezer? Off the dryer? The shutters closed? Who wants to know exactly, not necessarily rush back home. Even while traveling with a smartphone app allows the contents of the fridge check – no longer a problem in the networked household. A visit to the guest house the International Radio Exhibition (IFA) shows that smart home technology is now possible. Energy efficiency, safety and comfort – these three requirements is the smart house justice. The house of the future generates a portion of its energy needs themselves: with photovoltaics on the roof, a wind turbine in the garden or a fuel cell in the basement, which produces electricity and heat from natural gas. “Every consumer can contribute to the energy revolution,” says Jan Voosen, spokesman for the Central Union of Electricians (ZVEH), during a tour of the guest house.



Intelligent Management

This requires an intelligent management system that controls the devices. Tumble dryer or dishwasher start ideally when the solar cells provide the most energy, but so early that they are ready for after work of the consumer.

On the red sofa in the living room of eHauses shows Voosen the app processes are controlled in the networked home with the hundreds. A tap on the screen is enough to open a window or to close, another tap will change the colors of the LED room lighting. Another tap and the audio system changes its volume. The various functions can be controlled separately for each room. The smart windows in the bathroom can be even with a touch of transparent switch to milk glass (but that has nothing to do with the Internet, but with the electric charge of the coated glasses).

Probably the greatest benefit deployed networked home in the kitchen. Here, however, is also the biggest problem of networked home: the competing standards of various brands. For the Internet controlling a washing machine from Miele, a dishwasher from Siemens and a steam oven from AEG consumer requires three apps. Who wants that?

Siemens, for example, relies on its App Home Connect. It is the control center for the networked home appliances: refrigerator, oven, dishwasher, washing machine and coffee machine. The focus here is the remote control and remote control, because of the ever increasing functionality of these devices can only be restricted with buttons and rotary switches control. “This is the screen of a tablet is better than the screen of the device,” says Ingo Pietsch. He is Speaker of the House Device Holding of Bosch and Siemens for technology projects.

for networked oven To include a recipe database, are the tips for preparing a list of ingredients by e -mail sends a digital shopping list and then proposes settings such as temperature, cooking mode and cooking time. The washing machine sends a push notification when the program terminates. On coffee machines, each user can set his favorite coffee. The app shows you how much water and energy, the dishwasher consumes. And two webcams informed in real time about the contents of the refrigerator. If the freezer door is not closed properly, the app receives a push alert.

Logical next steps include the integration of other services. One option are interfaces for remote maintenance of the equipment by the customer service, as Ingo Pietsch says. Furthermore, it will be important to develop smart sensors that relieve the user and remove him work.

The networked refrigerator of the future is therefore not only of his webcam images show content, but create a shopping list and perhaps even hire a delivery service. It will be important to make this process smoothly and without additional cost to the consumer. Pietsch holds in this context, nothing of RFID chips in food and bar codes that are scanned when removing or cross points of the products – particularly meats, fruits and vegetables do not have barcodes. “The clients want not.” Pietsch holds electronic image detection contrast for an appropriate means to document the contents of the refrigerator. Another future task will be to develop standards for a brand open platform. Because nobody wants to use it for any brand or model your own app. Here, each manufacturer still cooks his own soup. Home Connect can currently only access appliances from Bosch and Siemens.

The German Telekom with its platform Qivicon already one step ahead. The Manufacturers Alliance Qivicon provides a control device that connects electrical devices in the home with the Internet and their own smart home app. Furthermore, several partner apps (especially from energy suppliers) are compatible with the device: Approximately 30 brands of household appliances – including Miele with 400 crosslinkable home appliances and Samsung – and, more recently, the car manufacturer BMW are partners of the platform

How can regulate light or heating for different rooms BMW drivers, devices on and off. You receive a message when a window or patio door is open. The operations can be performed using the control button “iDrive Controller” on the center console of the car. The information display in the vehicle will also show relevant information out of the house to.

A Qivicon partner is the Swiss company Digital current, the technology can connect existing electrical installations to the grid . These remote controlled switch sockets in and distribution board. You can control lights or shades by app. Completely new is a collaboration between digital power and the fittings manufacturer Dornbracht. Water valves for kitchen, shower and bathtub can be opened by app and let water at a preselected temperature.

Again, more comfort the goal. With the words “I want to take a shower” starts the digital current voice control a preselected shower program. The lighting and audio control of smart home system will take care of in addition to the appropriate ambience and plays from a playlist.

To service it comes with a new offering of Thermostat App Tado, with can be remotely controlled central heating and air conditioning. The new application Tado Care function reads data and warns the user when interference. Then the customer can be connected directly to an installer. These Tado works with installer networks such as Homeserve together

Security in the building is another aspect of the Smart Home.: These include not only sensors on doors and windows, and water and smoke detectors, whose state can be interrogated remotely, now there are also cameras that transmit monitoring images from space in real time, and motion, which can sound the alarm via app.

There are also limits

Such functions may deter burglars or dispel doubts and fears in the absence of the resident. But while you sit on the sofa in the guest house and zaps through the real-time camera images of the individual rooms on the tablet screen, you feel a little in the reality show Big Brother. Somewhere the Smart Home has then also limits, although the smart home version of baby monitors could well find friends. WiThings, a provider of connected health care solutions, today announced at the IFA before one equipped with sensors for air quality and temperature video camera with wide-angle optics, night vision and sound recognition. “The smart home market will grow in importance,”, Jan Voosen is safe. “In particular, the generation that grew up with the tablet will be interested in it.”

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