Improved quality of life is the theme at the Philips Innovation Event Asia, where Philips is currently showcasing its latest technologies.
Using "people-centric research" methods, the company has identified what people want from technology to improve their daily lives, and produced a range of solutions to meet this need.
"We researched the functionality and acceptability of the concept, as well as the way people experienced it," said Rick Harwig, chief technology officer at Royal Philips Electronics.
In no particular order, here's a list of some of the main technologies being demonstrated:
Personal healthcare innovations
First up is a TV-based communication and entertainment service, CareServant. Intended for use in hospitals or care organisations, it provides a variety of interactive functions, such as audio- and video-on-demand, for improving the quality of stay for a patient or care home resident.
Where illness cannot be cured, home care is far preferable to hospitalisation. To this end, Philips has developed specialist equipment to help furnish a house for such use. Namely, the smartBed, which monitors a user's quality of sleep. It's also produced clothing which can trace the status of a heart failure patient.
The electronics company has developed a lighting concept as well. Aimed at the elderly, the Activity Lamp produces "optimal lighting conditions" which, according to Philips, will allow the older generation to continue to enjoy leisure activities, such as reading and embroidery.
It's unclear exactly what distinguishes the technology behind the Activity Lamp from that of any other light, but Philips is keen to point out that this is its answer to cognitive deterioration associated with old age.
Lifestyle innovations
Within the realm of home entertainment, Philips has developed new digital signal processing technologies that eliminate signal drop-outs when streaming movie content over wireless networks.
Having identified immersive TV as "the next big thing", it has also created a 3D display that uses WOWvx 3D technology to produce an explosion of images bursting out the screen.
Solid state lighting innovations
Solid state lighting uses light emitting diodes (LEDs) to generate light which can be altered in colour and intensity, depending on the required effect. Retailers can change the ambiance in a store, for instance, by adjusting the light.
To aid this process, Philips has created the LightWand - a colour scanning and pointing device. The user can either point the device at a coloured light of their choice, or touch a coloured object to select a particular colour. By then pointing the wand at the required light source, the colour can be 'painted' in.
A beam shaping technology has also been developed, to help create different lighting atmospheres. This uses advanced liquid crystal technology to shape the size and direction of a beam of light from an LED.
Energy efficient LED retrofit lamp prototypes have been designed as well, to produce a higher intensity of light while generating less heat. Intended for down lighting, these complete Philips' new range of technologies for improving quality of life.
