Nov 16, 2016 – Every day there are more and more “smart,” Internet-enabled gadgets for the home that are designed to make everyday life easier for users. The variety of functions and “skills” that manufacturers assign to appliances is growing rapidly. But won’t it provoke the appearance of complications in the control of appliances, which can confuse the consumer?
The solution lies in improved communication, both between the consumer and the appliances, and between the appliances themselves. Whirlpool will participate in European Utility Week, an international forum dedicated to developments in smart energy saving, to be held in Barcelona from November 15 to 17. Europe’s largest manufacturer of home appliances will share new ideas in developing a common language of remote-controlled device interaction and its comfortable adaptation for the end consumer.
Whirlpool is a member of Enegry@home, a non-profit organization that develops and promotes devices and technology that help make smart home energy efficient. The result of the two organizations working together is an open programming language that can be used to control “smart” home energy systems, as well as to configure the interaction of those systems with remotely controlled appliances. The project is named SPINE Smart Premises Interoperable Neutral-messages Exchange .
Sponsored by the European Commission. The language was also created by EEBUS, an association that develops the smart home industry and the Internet of Things. Both organizations will also participate in the forum and together they will demonstrate the new standards of remote control.
Marco Sinha, Senior Manager Connectivity, Whirlpool EMEA“Participating in European Utility Week will be a real step forward for the development of the smart home concept. Recently, we’ve seen very often that the introduction of convenient and important technology has become more difficult due to the slow development of standards for the entire industry. Now, with the development of mobile technology, we see that the common desire of all manufacturers to find a common path of development helps to really change the world! This is a very important step forward for improving the home of the future, where technology works in harmony with each other to make everyday life easier and to help adhere to smarter consumption.”.
SPINE programming language can work with different data transfer protocols, so that controlled appliances, even from different manufacturers, can continuously communicate with home energy systems as well as with each other. Thus, in the future the system will be able to manage and optimize its energy consumption by itself. For example, it is possible to start a washing cycle at the most advantageous time in terms of tariffication. This will also be a breakthrough in the development of smart energy systems and self-generation of electricity through solutions such as photovoltaic solar panels.
Marco Sinha, senior manager, Connectivity, Whirlpool EMEA“We at Whirlpool are committed to bringing truly convenient solutions to the home of the future that will make everyday life easier and more enjoyable. The technical innovations offered by the Smart Home are truly impressive. However, for these technologies to enter the life of the average consumer, they need to be made to work virtually intangibly and require no user intervention. This requires all manufacturers to work together to find the best solutions. I’m proud that Whirlpool is part of this big thing for all manufacturers, and is developing the standards on which the future will be built.”.
In 2015, Whirlpool became the first manufacturer in the world to launch a series of remotely controlled freestanding appliances based on 6th SENSE LIVE smart technology. The lineup includes the SupremeCare washing machine, the Supreme Dual NoFrost Combi fridge and the PowerDry dishwasher. Innovative devices offer incredible ease of use, the ability to remotely monitor and set the parameters of the appliances from a smartphone or tablet.
As part of the development of the Smart Home concept, Whirlpool has announced a partnership with IT market leaders. Whirlpool became one of the first partners of Nest, creator of the smart thermostat, and announced a partnership with Amazon and introduced their Amazon Dash service into the smart home ecosystem. In addition to consumer-visible innovations, Whirlpool has also made
What advancements is Whirlpool planning in remote appliance management for a more efficient and convenient user experience?
What are the specific advances or innovations Whirlpool will be discussing regarding remote appliance management at European Utility Week? How will these advancements benefit consumers and utilities alike?