(ELUX) Starting today, for a trial period of five months, 50 Danish homes outside Copenhagen will test the world’s first intelligent refrigerator, the Electrolux Screenfridge. The purpose of the field test, conducted by Tele Danmark and e2 Home (the joint venture company between Electrolux and Ericsson), is to test the Intelligent Living concept in its intended environment and to study customer reaction to electronic household services.
Says Rikke Clausen, soon a mother of two, “I enjoy the on-line Internet access in the kitchen, as it is the place we spend most of our time. I believe I’ll use the Screenfridge for everyday information, like looking up phone numbers, finding bus schedules or getting dinner ideas. I know I’ll also try Internet food-shopping, with two children, it would be great to have the groceries delivered to the home.”
Shopping is one of the electronic services that simplify everyday life for the test homes. The participating households have WAP phones to be able to access shopping lists stored in the Screenfridge.
The Screenfridge is the communication center of the networked home concept. The Screenfridge has a built-in touch-screen on the refrigerator door that provides always-on, interactive, broadband communication technology, Internet, television and radio. Electrolux is also in the process of developing other intelligent appliances that can be networked and thereby controlled from several terminals from different parts of the house or even remotely from outside the home.
“When we chose the households, we wanted to get a diverse group of participants,” says Uolevi Partanen at E2 Home, project manager for the field test. “We narrowed it down to five categories: young singles, older people living alone, couples without children, families with young children, and families with teenagers.”
To follow the progress of the field test or for further information, see www.kitchengate.dk
Photographs are available at www.sthlms-reprografen.se/electrolux/fieldtest.html
For further information contact:
Ulrich Amundsen, +45 70 22 00 47
