Forget the 'Smart' Home, This One Belongs to Mensa

May 8, 2002
By Karen E. Peterson

The stylized electronic home of the future won't have a mind of its own, but it could be so finely programmed that it will know – even anticipate – what its occupants are thinking.

Last month Royal Philips, the giant Dutch electronics firm, opened the doors of HomeLab, an ambitious experiment in developing ultra-modern living systems. What's driving the research: "Ambient Intelligence," a 21st century cousin of artificial intelligence.

In short, what Philips is drafting are homes so profoundly programmed and gadgetized that they are aware of who lives there. But that's just half the equation. Ambient Intelligence will allow these structures to actually adapt to the habits and wishes of the humans that occupy them. Philips describes this "thinking-home" programming as "object-becomes-subject" – an idea that in itself suggests a school of architecture rivaling Bauhaus in form-function grit. Here, the building itself determines the function from its inherent "smart" form.

Bird's eye view of the HomeLab living room, with observation camera. Photo from Royal Philips

HomeLab, which debuted in April, is the laboratory where this visionary living space is to be hatched.

HomeLab isn't a sterile white room. It's a "real" home located adjacent to the Philips High Tech Campus in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. And the mice in this modern homemaking experiment are flesh-and-blood humans who volunteer to live in the home 24 hours a day while Philips' researchers observe how they interact with the company's electronic prototypes.

In floor plan, it is a "typical" two-level, two-bedroom home – but that's about all it has in common with suburbia. This home, as Philips sees it, is more like what was promised 40 years ago with the Jetsons: the last (or, in this case, the first) word in automated living.

Ambient Intelligence is Philips' contribution to the on-going development of fully networked, anytime-anywhere pervasive-computing technology. Pervasive (or ubiquitous) computing is all about turning everyday objects – from refrigerators to heating consoles, even clothes – into mini-computers that can communicate remotely to an internal or external server.

What Philips' Ambient Intelligence adds to the idea of pervasive computing is its deeply personal nature. Through a concept of Context Aware Environments (CAE), Philips is attempting to extend networking into the realm of "awareness" that unites machine and consumer.

What that means, according to Philips, is that Ambient Intelligence will enable those objects to respond to "our voices and gestures, store and display data more naturally and seamlessly and interact and connect with other intelligent household items."

How Philips defines Ambient Intelligence, in part

It's all about communication – and Philips apparently believes the conversation has enough merit to invest time and money on HomeLab R&D.

"Our innovation is centered around what consumers want," said Ad Huijser, Philips Chief Technology Officer. "By observing them using our technology in their natural habitat – the home – we can better adapt that technology into real world products. This will be a key differentiator for Philips moving forward."

Philips has high hopes for the HomeLab's live-in approach to discovery, which it says will provide "unprecedented, ongoing access" for speeding up the product development cycle.

But don't expect an ambient home in your neighborhood anytime soon. Target date for true ambient living, says Philips, is 2020.

Page 2: Inside HomeLab: The Blueprint