Smart Homes a Reality as 30,000 are Planned

This weekends tech show from the BBC- “Click” featured a new development of Smart Homes just built in South Korea. These apartments are the model for a roll-out of 30,000 new homes in 2008. You can stream the program from the BBC site via the link at the end of this article…
“More than 100 homes offering smart technology have just been built in South Korea and another 30,000 are planned…Each flat makes use of the electricity cables to transfer data as well as power. Each appliance has to be compatible with a system called HomeNet, one of a number of competing systems on offer in South Korea. The choice of service also limits what devices Koreans can buy to hook into the system as each appliance needs to be compatible. Local electronics giant LG is behind this project, and says it already has construction deals to deliver around 30,000 similar homes each year from 2008… Futuristic vision – It is a concept that is now a reality, but the next house we saw was a mock up of what things could be like.
In South Korea’s vision of the home of the future we will all wear mini-PCs on our wrists, which turns things on or off, opens doors, and tracks the wearer’s position in the house at all times.
Smart wardrobe – Style advice is offered by a mirror on the wardrobe
Here, everything is voice activated, and the fridge can provide you with recipes which use the ingredients inside, and let you know if your food is out of date.
It relies on the food packaging containing radio tags, or RFID labels, which can be read by the fridge each time it passes through the door.
But will the food industry or consumers be prepared to pay more for this? And what about food that does not come in lots of packaging?
In the bedroom your wardrobe mirror can tell you your schedule for the day, help you select your clothes – if all your clothes have washable radio tags compatible with the system – and keep you up to date with the weather and traffic.
When it is time to go, the house of the future will shut itself off.”
Read the article and stream the program from the BBC Click Website