Fun with Internet Appliances

Internet appliances come in two flavors. The first is dumb appliances such as Web TV, which provide Internet access but with little or no processing capability. The second flavor is smart appliances that use embedded processors to perform some function in response to directives from a remote controller or management station. A smart lawn-care appliance, for example, might use sensors to collect soil-moisture reading and a camera to record grass size and color. You could relay this information to a remote-control station over the Internet, which would decide whether to turn the sprinklers on or off.

You could also use a smart Internet appliance to provide remote control over a home-security system. For example, you could program the system to beep you via e-mail in response to a visitor knocking on your door or ringing the doorbell. It could then prompt you to activate a discretely mounted camera, which uses the Internet to transmit video to your PC. If the visitor is out of view, em bedded controllers inside the camera could be directed via the Internet to swivel down and zoom in to give you a look at the visitor. You could then use the Internet to speak with the individual.

Home heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, and appliances are also tailor-made for remote control over the Internet. Most of the hardware and technology needed to remotely control these devices are built in. Lucent Technologies, for example, offers a control system known as Homestar Wiring. It uses Category 5 twisted-pair wiring to electronically link and control a diverse network of smar t appliances, security systems, entertainment devices, and telephone systems for one computerized location. Making the devices and the central controller Internet-ready is an incremental step forward.

Many experimental Web sites let users control remote devices over the Internet from their browser. Most are trivial, including a remarkable number of Internet-linked Coke machines, weather sensors, and hundreds of telescopes and video cameras. One of the best is a pair of smart video cameras located at Rockefeller Center. Using your browser, you can select a camera, move it sideways or up and down, and even zoom in.

Another interesting Web site lets you operate a model train and guide it around the track. At the USC robotic telegarden, you can use your browser to water a petunia. To have even more fun on the Internet, go to the Yahoo search area and look in "computers and Internet/entertainment/internet devices connected to the net."