The Hindu Business Line : The digital edge

Biometric security systems, climate control and appliances that can be switched on and off via the mobile phone or internet – digitally-enabled homes are here to stay. Almost every housewife will reluctantly admit to a measure of neurosis when it comes to the security of her home especially when the family has stepped out for a longish period of time. In fact, most have their pet worries.

My own all-time favourite one is ‘Did I lock the front door properly?’

Discussions with friends unearth a few more: ‘Have I left the iron on? And worse still, ‘Did I turn off the gas’.

Other popular worries include having left the bathroom tap leaking, or the window unlatched, and MOST pre-occupying,

‘Hope no anti-social elements notice that no one is in since the house is in darkness.’

Call it a product of the times, call it the logical progression of technological advancement, the fact is that the digital technology is here and might just be the antidote to such paranoia.

The new breed of ‘intelligent homes’ open up an amazing range of possibilities. Homes in which the lights can be programmed to come on at a given time, and go out at a pre-designated hour. Or a microwave oven that can be switched on just as you leave the workplace so that a hot meal is ready the moment you return, all via the mobile phone or the internet.

Integration

Though intelligent homes have been around for some time now, the level of integration varies considerably. Amongst the builders in the city offering one of the highest levels of integration on a single panel is the Kool Homes group. This has four projects under way at Balewadi, Bavdhan, Kondhwa and Mohammedwadi, where they are building 1,200 apartments, accounting for nearly 800 ‘interactive’ apartments. Mr Dharmesh Ghatani, Director, Strategy and Planning, Kool Homes, says, “We have one of the most advanced integrated systems to date.” These facilities integrated on a single panel cover safety, security, energy conservation, comfort and utilities.

Thus, offering house owners the convenience of turning the air-conditioner, microwave or the geyser off or on – all through the internet or the cell phone.

Predictably, the cutting edge technology comes at a price tag. “Yes, they do cost a little more,” says Mr N. Vasudevan, Managing Director, Vascon Engineering. The company’s digitally enabled building Ivy Glenn at Kalyani Nagar is out-fitted with access control, and systems for building management, camera surveillance and energy savings.

“But these will become cost-effective in time and soon be standard features in future apartments,” he maintains.

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