The end of wires

Imagine a world where everything is online all of the time. A place where your boiler books itself in for a service and your music follows you from room to room.

Think about a house where your fridge knows it’s empty and reminds you to bring home the beer. Then get used to it, because this is the home of the future and it’s already here.

Ushering in a world without wires, this week saw the unveiling of a number of major Scottish initiatives that could be set to revolutionise the way we live our home and business lives.

At an event hosted by the Scottish Enterprise-funded Wireless Innovation, the cream of the country’s top 100 companies crammed into Glasgow’s Lighthouse to catch up on the high-tech revolution poised to make an impact upon every aspect of modern life, from the way we are entertained to the way we protect our homes.

“Wireless networks are driving a revolution and Scotland is embracing the opportunity to lead the development and uptake of these enabling technologies,” says organiser Alisdair Gunn.

Offering an insight into a rapidly growing sector analysts believe will have a global market worth in excess of $7 billion by 2010, the one-day Sixth Sense seminar profiled some of the Caledonian companies using the latest Wi-Fi technology.

“Scottish users are already typically using at least 10 everyday household items that communicate wirelessly, but this is only the beginning,” Gunn says.

Providing an example of how the average home will soon be, Glasgow-based Boston Networks demonstrated a system which allows a homeowner to use a handheld wireless device that can access internet radio stations, as well as their own CD collection, to broadcast selected tracks to any room in the house.

Serving a full range of television stations, internet services and digitally stored movies to the desired screen at the touch of a button, the domestic communications system allows the user total control over their home even when they’re out and about.

The company’s flagship product is a CCTV security system which, if its motion detectors detect an intruder, transmits still images to the home’s central computer and then notifies the owner via email or text message.

Once the network required to run such a system is installed, the possibilities are endless. Several manufacturers have already developed appliances such as washing machines capable of sending maintenance test results back to the factory for automatic fault-monitoring while, in America, a system has been successfully tested that enables a tiny radio chip encased in food packages to beam instructions on how to cook itself to a suitably equipped microwave.

“Once you’ve put the infrastructure into a building, the owner will be able to use it to deploy virtually any technology they want,” says Keith Anderson, chief executive of Boston Networks.

Increasingly, house builders are leaping aboard the smart home bandwagon. The company’s systems are already being installed in over 1000 new UK homes, while a customer list that includes Tulloch and Scotia Homes is expected to generate revenues of £1 million for the current year.

Stirling-based Hometech Integration pulled in £2m installing smart home technology in 2005 and expects a 30%-40% increase this year, while several of Scotland’s utility companies are considering implementing a system that allows electricity and gas meters to read themselves and send the results back to base.

While the domestic market provides the most eye-catching examples, the technology could also have enormous potential for the commercial sector.

“Pervasive wireless technology or RFID has been described as one of the few truly disruptive technologies to emerge in recent years,” says Eddie Chance, regional director of Oracle Scotland.

“It promises to revolutionise supply chains and usher in a new era of cost savings, efficiency and business intelligence. The potential applications are vast as it is relevant to any organisation that is engaged in the production, movement or sale of physical goods.”