By FERINA MANECKSHA                                     
ferina@nstp.com.my

  Among the information and communications technology (ICT) vendors and homeowners, the concept of the smart or digital home varies according to an individual's perception.
  For Intel, the digital home is where consumers can enjoy digital content across various devices and stream it to any location throughout the home and beyond. The chip giant envisions digital home which bridges consumer electronic "island" inhabited by TVs, stereo systems, and CD/digital versatile disc (DVD) players; and PC "island" populated by Internet content and broadband connections.
  Microsoft believes this so-called digital lifestyle is one that hinges on digital technology. It means that software, devices and applications should function to enable people and businesses to realise their full potential anywhere, anytime, and on any device, says its managing director for Malaysia, Butt Wai Chun.
  Local company Inix Technologies Sdn Bhd says the term smart living is commonly used to define a residence that uses a single master controller unit for security, video surveillance, home automation systems, broadband facilities and audio-visual entertainment system.
  Misconception. Inix's business development manager Ralph Yew Eng Teik says a major defect of Malaysian smart homes is that most of them are poorly defined - some just supply Internet connections while others offer some form of basic security system. This has been seen in several property development projects that defined smart townships as having just broadband Internet facilities.
  Palette Multimedia's president and

chief executive officer Eg Kah Yee says in the local context, the smart home is described as having electronic automation of home appliances by whatever means. "Malaysians did not know what it (smart home) was," he says.
  "They (developers) started to use some electronic gadgets in the home appliances and called them smart homes," he adds, likening smart homes as a term uniquely defined in Malaysia more than anywhere else.
  Potential. Although the digital home concept is relatively new in this country, it offers great growth potential, says Intel Malaysia's country manager Peter Chong.
  This growth is expected to be fuelled by combined efforts of various industry players and the Government, he adds.
  Butt believes Malaysia's standing in terms of the smart home vision compared to other countries boils down to the nation's digital literacy which stimulates demand for such solution.
  If there is no perceived

prototype architecture and technologies for building intelligent environments. The key features include:

   Computer vision for person-tracking and visual user interaction;
   Multiple sensor modalities combined;
   Use of a geometric model of the world to provide context;
   Automatic or semi-automatic sensor calibration and model building;
   Fine grained events and adaptation of the user interface;
   Device-independent communication and data protocols; and
   Ability to extend the system in many ways.

  Innovative products. The future smart home will offer businesses fresh opportunities to meet customer's needs faster and at a lower cost.
  Choong of Intel envisions that this always connected, robust and intuitive environment will support innovative products and services that will enhance consumers' fundamental desire to connect with one another, give access to information anytime and anywhere, and offer greater levels of convenience and variety in entertainment and leisure.

utility, people won't demand or pay for services provided within the smart home concept. A good gauge would be the PC and Internet penetration per population which Malaysia still lags" he explains.
  With properties being fitted with digital media content such as Astro and broadband connections, and local property developers looking to provide more technology for the home users, Butt believes that Malaysia is slowly but surely getting there.
  "Properties in twin cities Cyberjaya and Putrajaya already claim to provide slightly more smart home-like amenities

for their buyers," he says.
  Vision. There is wide research and development in interconnectivity and connectedness from smart homes to smart personal objects technology (SPOT), Butt says.
  Among others, researchers are developing computers that can understand speech based on probabilities.
  Microsoft Research is currently developing Yoda, a speech-to-text engine, which can turn spoken words into coherent e-mail messages by studying a person's habits, Butt reveals.
  Microsoft also has a team of researchers who are actively developing