CTIA: Wireless Home Redux

Walking into the CTIA Wireless Home provoked a burst of deja vu. Just last May I was a frequent visitor to the Broadband Home at Morial Convention Center, a 7,000 sq. ft. house designed to show off all the ways cable-delivered broadband was working — and could work — on the home front. When I mentioned it to CTIA president Steve Largent after the first keynote, he admitted that his organization bought the house from NCTA. That’s pretty much where the similarity stops. Redesigned to showcase wireless services and products, CTIA’s version has its share of blue-sky notions but it is much closer to the way middle-income families might trick out a real house. No giant video screens in jacuzzi tubs. Largent says the goal of the home is “to show that wireless is more than just having a cell phone.” I’d say that was accomplished.

I can understand why my colleague James observed that “you cannot properly interact with a baby in a crib wirelessly.” But, of all the gee-whiz stuff going on in the house, the garage and the yard, I was most intrigued by the crib set up as demoed by Neil Sheth of Accenture. It’s not a substitute for playing with a baby in person but does offer a way to interact and be a visual/audio presence from a distance. Using the remote setup and a camera, video screen with speakers and some enabled toys in the crib or playpen, it’s possible not only to see and be seen but to play music, take and transmit pictures and even move toys. You can program your own music and video. I know it sounds a tad creepy but used right it could make a difference for some families. With variations, set ups like this also can be used to monitor life signs, set off an alarm if a baby is in danger of SIDS or another problem that requires constant attention, etc.

In just a few weeks, I’ll be walking through the next version of the broadband home at NCTA’s National Show in San Francisco. It will be interesting to see how that vision has evolved.

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