IBM, ST and Shaspa collaborating on smart home tech

IBM , STMicroelectronics and Shaspa are collaborating to tap cloud and mobile computing for manufacturers and service providers to provide innovative ways for consumers to manage and interact with their homes’ functions and entertainment systems using multiple user interfaces such as voice recognition and physical gestures for a smarter home. A “smart home” brings networking functions together, creating a gateway that connects a television, computer or mobile device with smart meters, lights, appliances, plugs and sensors within the home as well as services from outside. Parks Associates forecasts that more than 8 billion devices will be connected on the home network by year-end 2015. In Las Vegas this week during the world’s largest consumer electronics exhibition, the three companies will demonstrate a TV linked to ST’s Home Gateway, running software from business partner Shaspa, and connected to the IBM cloud. Through sensors, the system can monitor home parameters such as temperature, carbon dioxide[2] level through a wireless or batteryless IPv6 network, or human motion within the home. The data can be communicated to a smartphone or tablet via a wireless router. In this way, the homeowner can offload much of the home management to the cloud and interact with the system using event and time-based preset scenarios. The companies anticipate that this initiative cou...