IT MAY look low-tech, but this smart doll鈥檚 house could one day change the way we live, its inventors claim.
Part of a project called InterHome, it is designed to test and demonstrate how much greener and secure our homes could be if they incorporated intelligent technologies that adapt to our daily routine. And it鈥檚 easier to chop and change those technologies on a small scale until the researchers get it right.
Developed at the University of Hertfordshire, UK, the house is fitted with a network of infrared sensors connected to a central computer. By working out which rooms we tend to occupy at different times, software algorithms learn when we need the lights, heating or air conditioning systems turned on and, perhaps more importantly, when we don鈥檛, says Johann Siau, the project鈥檚 coordinator.
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鈥淪oftware algorithms learn when we don鈥檛 need the lights, heating or cooling systems turned on鈥�
His tests suggest such technology could cut carbon emissions and slash energy bills by an estimated 拢300 per year, on average.
InterHome also aims to boost home security. By connecting door and window lock sensors to the computer, it can send a text message to the homeowner if they have forgotten to lock the front door, for instance. Texting back will lock any doors or windows in question.
Hertfordshire鈥檚 house was unveiled in Cairo last week at the finals of the Microsoft 鈥� a competition for technologies designed to solve global problems.
