Smart grid tech gets a boost from Apple

January 22nd, 2010  |  Darrell Corriveau

Apple has recently moved to grab a piece of the burgeoning home energy management market – an integral part of the smart grid. According to Patently Apple, the company is working on a system using HomePlug certified adapter technology – a technology that will transform “every power outlet in your home or office into a conduit for audio, video and data,” as well as giving a boost to wireless signals. More importantly, this technology will also make it possible to control most of the electronic activity in your house with one central interface – something Apple is calling the Smart Home Energy Management Dashboard System. It could be a logical ’killer app’ for the much anticipated multi-touch Apple tablet (iSlate?) due out soon. This system, and others like it, is intended to help reduce demand and contribute to the reliability of the electricity grid.

We’ve been hearing the promise of a smart grid for some time, but so far this powerful idea has not captured the attention of the masses. Perhaps a popular consumer brand like Apple entering the market will make the smart grid concept hit home for many more people.

A vision of the future, by Microsoft

April 4th, 2009  |  Darrell Corriveau

Microsoft Sustainability is an ultra-slick infomercial that provides a glimpse of where information technology, and presumably Microsoft, is heading. Their vision of the future is a world where virtually every surface, from desks to coffee cups, can be manipulated to connect, collaborate, and create. The concepts look like friendlier versions of things you’ve seen before in movies like Minority Report and Iron Man. It’s all pretty seductive – the people in the video are imbued with a sense of freedom and relaxation as they go about their information-gathering business. But is this really what will happen? Aren’t we already maxed out on how much information we can reasonably take in and diseminate? Anybody with a smart phone and multiple social media accounts already knows that these technologies offer many things, but the promise of achieving zen calm probably isn’t among them.

What’s smart about GE’s Augmented Reality?

March 18th, 2009  |  Darrell Corriveau

GE, maker of everything from light bulbs to jet engines, is also developing technology and products for smart grids – the next generation of the electricity system. To help explain the smart grid concept, they’ve produced a nifty website that includes a component they are calling Smart Grid Augmented Reality. To make it work, the user prints a simple black and white image on a sheet of plain paper and then holds it up to their computer’s webcam. 

Then, in a truly ‘how did they do that?’ moment, an image of wind turbines and houses on a grassy landscape seems to unfold in a three-dimensional manner from the paper image on the computer screen. The image can then be moved and turned by manipulating the paper in the users hands. And that’s not all. By blowing into the computer microphone, the user can actually increase the speed of the wind turbines. It’s a neat bit of tech trickery from a massive company known for its innovation, but really, the presentation is not of much use. You will learn very little, if anything, about the concept of smart grids by giving it a try. But maybe that’s just fine. Despite the absence of social media links of any kind, the site has still managed to go viral to some degree – and if it’s not deepening the understanding of smart grid technology, it certainly is creating brand awareness for GE. The technology could also serve as a springboard for other more meaningful applications in the future.

Mashups making waves, and warning of them too

December 11th, 2008  |  Darrell Corriveau

A trend that is beginning to get serious traction in web site and interactive design is the use of mashups to repurpose publicly available information into interesting and informative new views.

As an example, check out the Havaria Information Service AlertMap, a site that culls information regarding natural disasters and safety alerts from numerous sites around the world and presents them in a singular interface. Want to know if there is an outbreak of the Avian Flu in China, or a Tsunami warning in Japan, or even a terrorist attack in Pakistan? It’s all here.

If you want more to learn more about mash ups, and how they work, check out the article Mashups: The new breed of Web app.