News Enabling the Smart
News Enabling the Smart Home digitalSTROM is brewing up a new digital storm – becoming the catalyst for today’s digital lifestyle digitalSTROM is a Swiss-based company offering Smart Home Technology for every home. Their technology communicates via existing power lines and networks with all electronic devices well as broadband platforms. Company CEO Martin Vesper tells us firstly about the background to the company… In 2001, digitalSTROM emerged from an idea of giving electrical devices their own intelligence and networking them with oneanother in an economical and ergonomic manner. Two inventors - Wilfried Beck and Ludger Hovestadt founded the company – firstly as aizo AG – together with two associates. The company is based on two basic inventions. One issue was how to communicate over a power line and keep the device very, very small. We already knew about power line modules, but they were much bigger and needed much more energy. If we were to use that for every light and every push button, it would use too much energy, and cause problems of temperature and size. So the invention solved the problem of how to communicate over a power line with a very small device. The second issue was about how to orchestrate all devices once they are so flexible, in a house – in a way that makes sense to the customer. The two inventors said to themselves, “If we take this technology and combine it with the orchestrating mechanism, we could make a perfect tool for a smart home, because it’s useable for everyone, easy to install for an electrician, and small enough so it totally disappears.” After a development phase of seven years and a conceptual cooperation with the ETH Zurich, it was introduced to the market in 2011. The display panel in the Tesla allowed digitalSTROM to develop a web interface What geographic areas are you covering? We started with German speaking countries. We have two or three channels to market. In German speaking countries and in the Netherlands, we are doing direct endconsumer branding and PR. In other key Western European countries we have distribution partners. Then in places like Istanbul and Shanghai we are more directly involved with major new building projects. Your car – a very nice Tesla – has been on show at the Innovations Media Briefing… tell us why. DigitalStrom is all about software that makes things work together. The display panel in the Tesla allowed us to develop a web interface – without having to work directly with the automobile manufacturer on the solution. It means that from my car, I can control everything in my home – including overseeing energy management. We have just started testing this, and soon will make it available to anyone driving a Tesla. So far, Tesla is the only car manufacturer that is open enough to allow something like this to be developed by someone from the outside. What does the future of all this look like? I think we will see that first of all, the house will become totally digital, meaning everything can be controlled by software. For some time, people will still use a switch to turn on their lights, but we will increasingly go towards automation: outside lights based on sun and so on. We are also demonstrating how in the kitchen automation will help. The kitchen also has an issue of hygiene, so there are advantages in not touching things with your hands. This means voice control will increasingly become the norm. Even things like face detection and emotion detection will come to play a role (Eds: DigitalStrom is demonstrating a coffee machine that makes you a cappuccino when you smile at it!). Another thing we will see is that devices will change. In many ways, cooking will become more automated in ways we hadn’t considered before. These so-called cognitive systems will be able to learn by themselves. Factors coming into play will include questions such as “What devices do I have available and what food is available today?” Smart algorithms will lead to a whole range of new solutions. Martin Vesper CEO, digitalSTROM the house will become totally digital, meaning everything can be controlled by software 16
Conference & Events Preview IFA 2015 Keynotes WHICH TECHNOLOGIES ARE ON THE VERGE OF A BREAKTHROUGH? WHAT ARE THE MAJOR INDUSTRY PLAYERS WORKING ON? WHAT ARE THE CHANGES THAT COME WITH GENERAL DIGITALIZATION? PROMINENT INTERNATIONAL DECISION MAKERS FROM THE FIELDS OF CONSUMER ELECTRONICS, HOME APPLIANCES AND RELATED INDUSTRIES SHARE THEIR PERSONAL VISIONS. THE PROGRAM OFFERS INSIGHTS INTO CURRENT AND FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS IN ALL RELEVANT IFA SEGMENTS: LIFESTYLE, TELECOMMUNICATIONS & INFRASTRUCTURE, TV & ENTERTAINMENT AND HOME APPLIANCES. ACCESS Exhibitors, Trade Visitors, Media and VIPs LOCATION CityCube Berlin, Hall A, Level 1 ADMISSION Media & VIPs: 30 min before keynote start Trade Visitors & Exhibitors: 15 min before keynote start Sang-Beom Han CEO, LG Display IFA OPENING KEYNOTE Friday 4 th September 10:30 a.m. "HOW DISPLAYS WILL CHANGE OUR LIVES" What comes "next" after current displays such as 4k and curved screens? Dr. Han will share his vision for "How displays will change our lives" and give trade visitors and media critical insights into the future of display technologies and product specifications. Nick Parker Corporate Vice President responsible for device partnerships, Microsoft Friday 4 th September 3:00 p.m. “WINDOWS 10 LIGHTS UP NEW DEVICES” In the keynote titled “Windows 10 Lights up New Devices,” Parker will demonstrate a breadth of new Windows 10 devices including tablets, 2-in-1s, premium notebooks, gaming devices and all-in-ones that will light up the Windows 10 experience for Dinesh Paliwal Chairman, President and CEO, Harman Saturday 5 th September 10:30 am “SMART AUDIO: THE PLAYGROUND HAS OPENED FOR NEW BUSINESS CONNECTIONS” In his keynote, Dinesh Paliwal shows how this new age of connectivity offers several new opportunities for the audio industry and what needs to be done to exploit this trend. Furthermore, he explains the challenges the industry is facing as it develops smart audio and gives examples for game changing innovations. www.ifa-international.org IFA International • Monday 31 st August 2015 17
