Smart Appliances

Smart appliances are being hailed as the new technology to make our lives cheaper, and a lot easier (and very lazy!) We will soon be walking into our homes to smart appliances, embracing ‘smart fridges, washing machines, heating/air con units, cook tops, ovens, dryers, dishwashers, ranges and other technologies. Smart appliances have been designed to allow consumers tighter control and to effectively shed or reduce domestic usage of energy, reducing bills and helping to achieve energy reduction targets.

There are two aspects of communication with your smart appliance technology. Firstly you can use your Smartphone or Tablet and interact and control your smart appliances remotely. The other key idea is to communicate via smart grids, responding to utility signals that provide consumers with reminders to use periods of lower priced energy.  You will be able to reduce power consumption during those peak hours and operate during those hours when lowest power demand exists. Smart grids and smart appliances can deliver significant benefits to society.

In the US there is infrastructures in various stages geared up for smart appliances. Some countries are more advanced in this field, while others are in development stages.

What is Technology Push or Market Pull?

'Technology push' is when the technology has been developed but the need must be created. Developing a new market.  Sometimes this is by a creative individual who has the knowledge and imagination to realise its significance and the practical skills to transform the idea or discovery into an invention.    
'Market pull' is when a business has a need for a product and technology develops to fill that need, defining a market. The stimulus for innovation comes from the needs of society or a particular section of the market.
 Both 'push' and 'pull' scenarios contribute toward the innovative use of technology

Sometimes a designer will design a new or improved product just because they believe that the very existence of the product will create market pull. Designs like this may either succeed or fail, depending on consumer demand, how innovative the product is, and the state of the market at the time.

An example of 'Technology push' include the first Sony walkman which was created because the chairman of Sony got tired of travelling with the companies existing portable stereo because of its weight. Sony embarked on an aggressive marketing plan by targeting teenagers hoping that the walkman would become associated with youth and leisure activities. Their marketing plan was successful.

Solar Power

The Sun powers our planet. Every day it bathes us in 10,000 times more energy that we consume. Just an hour's worth of sun power could electrify our world for a year.

As power is becoming more expensive for the average household and the new hydro power systems needed to keep up with New Zealand’s demands. I think more and more people will be turning to alternative means of powering and heating their homes. I predict that a lot of buildings will be required to have solar panels.

One key thing with finding alternative sources of power is to look at the technologies we use. For instance we already have solar powered gadgets such as garden lights, torches and calculators. However we need to be looking at our every day gadgets and how to make them solar powered.

In 2011, Southland was given the green light to launch the Southland Solar Pilot project. The goal is to install monitored solar hot water systems on 20 homes and 5 businesses across the region to show how solar can help reduce electricity costs and help offset climate change. The business is working to help create a cleaner world and a sustainable future and has a goal - Transform New Zealand’s electricity base to be 100 percent renewable by 2020. http://www.solarcity.co.nz/node/295

Solar powered house are pricey to set up, however the ramifications far outweigh this. New Zealand had its first recorded solar powered house in 1994. Inverters, heavy-duty deep cycle golf cart batteries, LPG gad, and water flow are minimum requirements for establishment. 

Holographic TV

Even in the last decade the humble TV has come a long way. TV sets keep changing. We now have better images, flatter screens and new features. TVs are still rapidly evolving and it is only fair to think that we will be getting holographic TV’s.

"Japanese tech-heads revealed proposals to FIFA this week to host the 2022 World Cup, offering with it holographic broadcast to the globe.  The Japanese have proposed to capture all 360 degrees of World Cup matches using up to 200 HD cameras, the footage from which then be used to project life like full 3D images onto genuine football fields over the world". http://www.techhive.com/article/196844/Japan_Proposes_Global_Holographic_World_Cup_Broadcast.html

The matches would be shown on giant screens or, if technological advances in coming years allow, projected like a real match onto the pitch itself, giving viewers the illusion of watching the real thing. While the idea seems something out of a science fiction film, the hope is to have the technology in place by 2016. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gNVZsxBSbgXx268O16flQfqXOs_w

This is quite mouth watering really, I could watch a game at Waikato Stadium as if it was happening right in front of my eyes, where actually the game is taking place in Japan. We will have holographic players moving around the field.