Home Help Robots

[Grimshaw Stuart <stuart.grimshaw@xxxxxxx>]

I found this in the news, does anyone know of a house that's automated
to anywhere near this level yet?

5 October - DN Wire -- Domestic help could soon make a comeback across
Europe with the advent of a new generation of intelligent home robots,
according to a UN report published yesterday.
The UN Economic Commission For Europe survey predicts that, in the next
10-15 years, improving technology and a fall in prices will result in a
massive boom in sales of domestic robots. By 2002, the report estimates
there will be 500,000 vacuuming robots and another 24,000 that perform
other domestic duties around the house. (won't be much room for any
humans with that many robots in the house!! - Stu)
Although very few home robots are currently on sale - most of which are
fairly crude toys - the report's authors believe the groundwork for the
automated robot-driven home of the future already exists.
Many new domestic systems and appliances, such as burglar alarms,
heating systems and ovens, already use microchips. In the future similar
wired appliances and domestic robots could be connected into a home
network and controlled from a handset or intelligent mobile phone.
Although prices will fall as the robots increase in popularity, the
first few generations of high-tech domestic help are likely to remain,
like the maids and butlers of yesteryear, the preserve of the rich and
privileged.




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