PLANNING AND LEADERSHIP FOR A BETTER WORLD
PLANNING AND LEADERSHIP FOR A BETTER WORLD One appliance manufacturer, LG, is pioneering smart-grid-ready appliances with new models slated to roll out in nearly every month of this year. First in the line will be a smart refrigerator whose integrated touch screen and remote access capability reveal what food items are inside, their expiration dates and suggested recipes using only on-hand items.
The one thing that stands out with these new products is that smart appliances need to be designed to work together. According to LG's vision of the future, all appliances will be networked, allowing their intelligence to be tapped on integrated touch screens, or by remotely using a matching smartphone or touch-screen tablet apps.
An integrated touch screen reports status, runs seven apps and here displays a recipe that uses only items the smart refrigerator knows to be on hand.
"Consumers will be able to stay in contact with their appliances at any time," said Young-ha Lee, president and CEO of LG Home Appliance Co.
LG's smart appliance brand—called "Thinq"—uses smart-grid algorithms that minimize energy consumption, allow remote access and provide expert advice on preparing dishes. All the household functions will eventually be smartened by adding Thinq technology, including refrigerators, ovens, washing machines, dryers, robotic vacuum cleaners and other devices yet to be named, all interconnected by the Internet.
LG is also hawking a suite of smart appliance apps, including smart diagnosis apps that monitor appliance health and pinpoint necessary repairs. The Smart Access app let users remotely control their appliance from smartphones or touch-screen tablets. Smart Adapt keeps installed apps updated automatically over the Internet, and the Smart Manager app strives to save time for consumers while upscaling their household skills with expert advice.
LG's smart refrigerator—already available in Korea and coming to the United States soon—supports multiple energy-consumption modes, including late-night saving, preferable-time saving and smart-grid remote control saving where it takes advantage of local utility time-of-use pricing systems. But its most novel smart app is the one that monitors which food items are in the refrigerator and their expiration dates, then suggests recipes using only on-hand items.
Users can also query their LG smart refrigerator from their smartphone or touch-screen tablet to determine what it contains, such as how much beer is left, making it easier to determine whether items need to be picked up on the way home from work.
The refrigerator's touch screen also includes apps that dispense weather reports, keep track of daily schedules and provide virtual sticky memos that family members can use to leave each other messages.
Next in LG's Thinq line of smart appliances is its smart washing machine and dryer, which use minimal energy, plus have a smart diagnosis function that allows service personnel to listen to the operation of the machine in order to identify the source of problems. If your area has time-of-use pricing systems, then the units can be set to turn on late at night to take advantage of the lowest nightly electricity rates, or they can be started and stopped remotely using a smartphone or touch-screen tablet.
Products like these show the potential synergies that can be derived when intelligent appliances are connected to smart networks.
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