European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 12, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse Saturday october 12, 1985 the stars and stripes Page 17 by Elizabeth Pennisi United press International for Portia Isaacson future Home is fantasy come a business meeting keeps her fro getting Home in time for her husband s Romni i in a f a comp controlled scenario Complete with Loving messages romantic lighting Ivorite music and appropriate videos will let him know he has t been forgotten. Th.1 Huck of a or a a computer ensure that her hot tub will be warm when she arrives or forms her when her teen aged children have Motte Home from school. Answering the door is obsolete. A camera shows who it is by sending a close up View of newcomers to wherever Isaacson is in the House. Then she can open the door remotely. Can t find the keys or the husband via video cameras she can scan shelf tops and table surfaces motion sensors track each person s room to room movements. It will take 13 computers 14 telephones 26 to monitors. 8 Miles of wiring several video cameras and video cassette recorders for Isaacson s new Home to fulfil her dreams at least for now. The White two Story stucco suburban Dallas Home nearly Complete for a move in will be an electronic showcase but with spiral staircase hot tub. Art gallery and style says Isaacson a computer scientist. Isaacson s House which she dubbed future Home to distinguish it As a Model of the future is her attempt to meld Interior design with High technology. For those still awed by computerized answering machines her tastes might seem extreme. She has robots for pets a sculpture of stereo and video components that seem to float in space futuristic Plant stands that Are really computer terminals and a Media command Center that includes four 25 Inch tvs a 40-Inch to projection screen 2 Vars and compact and laser disk players. The Hou May pm outlandish even orwellian to some but to Isaacson it is the bellwether of Homes to come. At future Home a master computer is in charge. It receives data from the rest of the House and sends out commands dimming lights changing thermostat settings and switching to channels and volumes. Using a text to speech converter the computer can answer and make Telephone Calls. When someone a housekeeper or tardy teen Ager for instance punches in their individualized codes to get into the front door the computer can be cued to let Isaacson know either where she is in the Home or at work. It can Tell me the condition of the House i want it to Monitor she said. Not Only can lights or favorite music be turned on As a person enters a room a synthesized voice can Welcome guests remind a son to keep his feet off furniture or Wake t. Husband in time Lor dinner. Heating and air Condil Loning Are regulated electronically and the computer tracks temperatures in each room so that the now occupants can assess airflow throughout the House. Once computerized the entire House can be run from any one of 10 personal computers by pointing with a Light pen to a particular room pictured on the screen and designating a task to be completed lights on or Oft specific music to be played to show to be recorded. Or scripts can be written that coordinate activities for emergencies Normal household maintenance even family feuds. To take care of intruders a Security script if a Security sensor detects a break in the computer could be programmed to Flash All the lights blast the stereos Wake up and Tell the residents where the stranger is lurking perhaps even inform the surprised would be burglars that they Are being timed. Of course turn a High tech Home can have its drawbacks. There s no hiding from an irate spouse. Special sensors detect and pinpoint movement in the House and track its occupants. Slamming doors is totally obsolete Isaacson said about family spats. Instead the angry spouse fantasy some people May find the futuristic suburban Dallas House outlandish even orwellian but to Portia Isaacson it is the bellwether of Homes to come. Can direct the computer to follow the offending partner from room to room switching on bothersome music turning off lights or making pestering comments. Masking the technology with traditional decor did not Appeal to Isaacson. My perfect House would look like an Enterprise command ship she said referring to the to series Star trek spaceship. Her Interior decorators strive to achieve this. Instead of a Wall sized painting an electronic sculpture welcomes visitors. The Black components of an audio and video system Are set into a Glossy Black Metal Wall on shelves not visible to viewers. Recessed lighting along the Wall edges adds to the effect. It looks like one machine rather than isolated components said Isaacson. Part of the machine is a Media room with a 12 by-20-foot Wall containing speakers amplifiers tuners turntable video cassette recorders and televisions. It has All the things you could want to w tech Star wars in its full implementation said Isaacson who admits to being a video addict. The Sale of Isaacson s Dallas marketing research company. Future computing. Inc., to Mcgraw Hill for a reported $8 million made her Home of the future possible. Some people would have bought a yacht or taken a trip around the world. I wanted a House like this she said. My whole Lite has led up to the computerization added about $500,000 to the Cost of Isaacson s Home which she eventually Hopes to sell for about $2 million. Begun in August 1984, the renovation of the 6,000-Square-loot House has involved 10 contractors each of whom planned and installed their sections of the House without knowing the Overall plan. Had tiny known she said frankly they would have probably gotten a Little inn son developed some of the computer programs and computer hardware necessary to pull the systems together but the massive software development As she described it also required a full time Programmer and an electrical Engineer. Because each system in the House does not depend on the computer system a new owner can pull the plug and still have a comfortable enjoyable House she said. The Veteran computer Industry watcher says the Days of computers As toys and electronic novelties is Over. Now Consumers Are eager to invest in More expensive machines capable of entertaining them keeping track of budgets phone Calls and investments and. In general making life easier. My House is my personal pet project she said. Because of my hands on interest in the technology and because i m a woman that has something to do with Why i have done the House in this Isaacson says her House is the first to try to computerize More than just one room or one or two aspects of Home life. Others have built houses with Security and Energy maintenance under computer control. A few manipulate their stereo and video equipment through their computers Monitor the baby s bedroom or have High tech bathrooms. There Are enormous design problems in How to get these things together she said. It s a big problem getting this stuff available for upscale Consumers. You can t just hire it to be the japanese Are the furthest along she said having incorporated computers into consumer electronics and general electric has something in the works but few others have tried to mate other household functions elect on Cally. Despite the sophistication of future Home Isaacson admits that Young children or dogs could confuse the system s Many sensors and create chaos. But her children Are grown up and As for pets she expects to have Only electronic ones two or three robots. Erma Bombeck t Here Are times in my life when i get the most incredible look on Rny face. The Eye blink and never Stop moving the Mouth fall open and perspiration forms on my fore head. This is my Way of looking like i m Tell ing the truth when i am. The harder i work at looking innocent the More guilty i look. Just the sight of one of those Security checks at the Airport and i become a different person. Ahead of me will be a Guy in a camouflage suit five Day growth of Beard a Tattoo on his Arm of a Snake coiled around Uncle Sam with Viva revolution underneath it carrying a violin Case. He will Breeze through without so much As a beep. Not me. I walk too fast never look anyone in the Eye and nervously stuff five Sticks of gum in my Mouth at one time. They pick up on my anxiety and Lor 15 minutes there is a major discussion As to the possibility of Iowa being attacked by needlepoint scissors and pointed toed shoes. You Don t want to know what i go through when i charge something and they Call in my Bank card number. It s three hours of pure agony. I Don t know How some people do it. Even As the salesperson is on the phone waiting for confirmation they carry on a Normal Conversa Tion confident that it s Only a matter of time before the Given Light goes on. Not me. Not a word is spoken As i Chew on the inside of my Mouth and wish i had not worn those stupid plastic shoes that All the supermarkets had on Sale in eight colors. How can anyone Trust me to look solvent when i am wearing plastic shoes returning things is probably the worst. At Home i have nothing but Confidence. I am going to Tell them the truth. This Chicken is so Strong it could have run a Marathon. Come to think of it with those muscular legs it probably did. I want my Money Back in full. In reality i sound like Elmer Gantry Selling redemption. I linger too Long on my integrity and How i would never Compromise it Lor a $4.29 naked Chicken. My voice Breaks. No one in their right mind would believe me. I Don t know Why it s so hard to look honest when you have nothing to cover up. But most of us overplay the rde. I was explaining a Dink in the right Iron fender of my car to my husband one night. I explained How i was driving Down this straight Patch of expressway when i sneezed and just barely drifted Over the right Lane. At that moment a Sec Tion of the railing Tell into the Pathol my car. I knew he d find that hard to believe but As Lee Iacocca is my witness it was the truth. My eyes blinked my Mouth fell open and perspiration formed on my forehead. He said you ought to sell used i Don t think he believed me. C los Angeles Tom i Syndicate
