The Networked Home: The Way of the Future or a Vision Too Far?

Abstract

It is some time in the distant future – perhaps 20 years or more away. John lives near Cambridge with his wife Julia and daughter Lisa. John works in London most days while Julia is a district nurse and Lisa attends a nearby school.

At 5:16am their home clicks into life. The home server has access to all their diaries and knows that John will need to get up at 5:40 to catch his train. It has accessed the local weather forecast to determine the outside temperature when he wakes up and thermostats in each room in the house tell it the current temperature. It then determines how long it will take to warm up the rooms of the house used in the morning to John’s preferred temperature and activates the heating at exactly the right time.