Motorola DigitalDNA Lab aims to get smart appliances to network.

 

August 3, 1999 

Picture yourself struggling home with a huge bag of groceries. You reach the front door, put down the bag, and fumble for your keys. Now, rather than going through this routine time and again, imagine if the front door recognized your face and voice and simply opened itself? This is just one of the convenient household features that researchers promise will be available to the consumer of the future.

To getting the ball rolling, Motorola has partnered with the MIT Media Lab to create the Motorola DigitalDNA Laboratory. Motorola has donated $5 million towards building and equipping the 5,000-square-foot facility that will house the lab. Research is already in progress, but the new building won't be completed until 2003. The lab will focus on making smart appliances-those that understand what you want and do it--able to communicate among themselves.

The result: a networked household that seamlessly connects all sorts of appliances. Your washing machine and air conditioner will detect if they're using too much energy or making too much noise. Clothes will have labels that inform your washer and dryer what cycle to use. Doors will open for specific people or pets. Thermostats will respond to voice commands. Treadmills will check for your pulse and adjust the incline accordingly.

ENTER THE NETWORK 
"Products are getting smarter, but there's a limit to what they can do for people if they're just working by themselves," says Greg Nelson, corporate vice president of Motorola's Semiconductor Products Sector. "Once you provide networks or linkages for these products, they can begin to do so much more in terms of making our lives easier," he says. One example of Motorola's current research is a wireless technology known as Piano, which can transmit information at speeds of up to 500 megabits per second over a distance of 10 feet. "It's very localized, basically the opposite of satellite networks. You walk into a room and the network is created as you enter," Nelson says.