Cleopatra the Electronic Home Attendant

junger writes "Electronic home attendant Cleopatra is a digital avatar that appears on screens and wireless tablets throughout ElectronicHouse's 2006 Home of the Year. She greets each resident in the home by name, announces visitors, phone calls, voice mails, emails and deliveries. Cleopatra shows who is home, pictures of recent visitors at the front door, the local weather forecast, stock market changes, and even the national security level."

And as a side job...

[Billosaur]

"In effect, Cleopatra provides a home personality and a friendly interface to the home's automation system," Brian says. The Premise system operates over a home's IP (Internet Protocol) network, much like a computer network used in office environments. That way, everything can operate off Microsoft Windows-based PCs. Motion sensors alert the system if someone is in a room or has approached the front door. Cleopatra even knows which family member has entered or departed by scanning tiny RFID (radio frequency identification) chips on their key fobs or other personal items as they pass the door.

Cleopatra can also pass information on who you contact or see directly to the NSA, CIA, and FBI, without all that nasty wiretapping and need for warrants. She'll rat on the kids when they smoke pot in the house and keep an eye on you while you do your taxes. That Cleopatra, she's an All-American avatar!

Big Brotherian Security Notices

[9mm Censor]

Cleopatra: Today the Nation Security Level is Orange. Remember to report an arabic men with beards to Homeland Security on suspision that they are a terrorist, and consider purchasing another firearm to ensure the safety of your family. Have a good day.

Re:And as a side job...

[mapkinase]

Blaming new technology for potential abuse is exactly what MPAA and RIAA and gvt are doing. Credit cards, phones, TV, library cards... All of it can be used against you.

And I am sure Cleopatra will only benefit from little 2^7-bit encription.

Shut up, Shut UP. SHUT UP!

[LMacG]

Enough already with the talking boxes. First, it was the automated checkout at the Kroger: "Please place the item in the bag." Gosh, I hadn't thought of that! Then I went to the ATM the other day and it started talking to me. Strangely enough, although the bank is based in Charlotte, NC, and I'm pretty sure it's a Diebold machine, it was talking to me in a slightly British-sounding female voice. Thank god nobody walks where I live, or we'd have those evil "walk now, walk now, walk now" pedestrian signals.

If I want to talk to an inanimate object in my house, I'll continue to address the cat. And I sure as hell don't want my house talking to me.

Feh. She probably won't even open the pod bay door.

Does she do anything useful?

[Un pobre guey]

She greets each resident in the home by name, announces visitors, phone calls, voice mails, emails and deliveries. Cleopatra shows who is home, pictures of recent visitors at the front door, the local weather forecast, stock market changes, and even the national security level.

Good Lord, does anyone care about any of these services, except perhaps photos of recent visitors?

What would be useful for such a system to do, worth the bother and expense of setting it up? Until it has speech recognition and allows you to get it to dial your phone for you and coordinates and performs useful household tasks, it's just another pointless gee-whiz toy.

I would have RTFA, but it is slashdotted at the moment.

Now with added fear in your own home!

[SteWhite]

"... and even the national security level."

Am I the only one who read that part and thought how strange/sad it was as an inclusion?

Why would you want to know the national security level at ALL TIMES, in your own home?

Seems like another fine example of the US Government wanting its citizens to live in nice orderly fear, whilst it "protects" them from dangerous terrorists.