[CES 2016] Panasonic wants the whole world to end up smarter than ever before, and in order to do this, they have capitalized on the Internet of Things (IoT) in order to make sure that whatever devices that can be connected online, should be connected. At their CES Press Day today, Panasonic explored the idea of a smart city – that of City NOW, which is pretty much in line with their Wonder Life Box concept back in their headquarters over in Japan.
Basically, City NOW works this way – it will connect just about every home that buys the idea, and imagine a smart town square that will guide its inhabitants to live as efficiently as possible – be it from the perspective of energy use, or perhaps from that of fuel consumption, as well as the optimal direction of traffic flow.
City NOW will also bring along with it ORA, which is Panasonic’s main control system for a smart home. Imagine this scenario – you are on a flight home, but there has been a delay in the flight which throws a spanner in the works as you have already planned a party to begin at 6pm, and you can only touch down at 5.50pm. Fret not, the ORA app on your tablet or smartphone can be used to open the door (obviously a digital lock is involved) so that the caterers can come in and set things up, and once they leave, you can lock the door.
The ORA app will also enable you to control lighting, music, appliances like the microwave oven, washer, dryer, and even have visual feeds at strategic places, allowing you to let in those whom you want to, and keep the riff raff out when required. Speak into the app, and your voice will be played back over the home speaker system.
All in all, it sounds good in theory – although the use of ORA is said to barely scratch the surface of what’s to come. Does this mean other non-Panasonic appliances are not compatible with ORA?