Hot Topic: Consumer Electronics

PISCATAWAY, N.J., USA—25 February, 2009—If you were having a conversation about consumer electronics ten years ago, you would be talking about portable phones, lap-top computers, CD players and portable DVD players. Today, consumer electronics span a diverse landscape of products that impact our lives—from home healthcare monitors and security systems, to advanced learning and intelligent transportation systems.

"Creativity and innovation in technological development enable engineers, scientists and technologists to re-think how we can leverage the rapidly changing consumer electronics industry to impact and improve our daily lives,” said Dr. Larry Zhang, IEEE Senior Member and President, IEEE Consumer Electronics Society. “There are many examples where using a creative approach, engineers discover new, better, innovative applications in consumer electronics that impact our society tremendously. This signifies the importance of innovation in teaching students and future engineers how to think.” 

How Consumer Electronics Benefit Humanity:

Consumer Electronics Aids Healthcare

In ways not seen before, consumer electronics are aiding the older population and those who are clinically ill through their deployment in senior residences and assisted-living facilities. Networks of motion sensors, bed sensors and video sensors, with the goal of developing software algorithms, are helping to identify early signs of illness and promote intervention.  Installations of ordinary consumer electronics, like webcams to study human movement and gait, are being used in sophisticated ways to provide analysis to help these people live healthier, longer lives. 

Consumer Electronics Advances Learning

Creativity has helped the consumer videogame industry branch out into a fast-growing subsidiary called “Serious Games” (also known as “Immersive Learning Simulations”), that is helping people of all ages – and especially aspiring business executives – to learn and retain important life lessons. IEEE is forging ahead to bring together researchers from a wide range of related disciplines to lead to the creation of a new cross-disciplinary community focused on this emerging business arena.    

Consumer Electronics Enables Safer Commuting

IEEE members are paving the way to faster, safer, more convenient and more environment-friendly commuting. Intelligent Transportation Systems or ITS focuses on the use of ordinary cell phones embedded with custom software, a variant of Wi-Fi communications technology named Dedicated Short Range Communications and complementary technologies built into cars, buses and roadways to allow transportation systems to better “communicate.” By fostering research and development in consumer electronics for ITS, there exists a vision that technology can help to aid in more streamlined traffic flow, better usage of energy resources and fewer vehicular accidents. 

In addition to the examples cited above, IEEE and its members have leveraged consumer electronics to benefit humanity in other ways, including:

• motivating children to learn;
• saving energy through home automation controls and energy efficient wireless charging and battery technologies;
• global socialization techniques through the use of video game technologies;
• automotive electronics for control and safety of electronic vehicles;
• home remote monitoring for handicapped and elderly individuals;
• future trends in gaming development;
• emerging technologies.

“The role of consumer electronics continues to expand and diversify as new opportunities appear for engineers to leverage technology to address issues facing society – from eco-friendly products in the home and smart electric cars on the road to remote patient care and home security monitoring,” said George Hanover, IEEE Congressional Technology Fellow and Consumer Electronics Society Membership Chair.  “Over the next decade, we will see further growth of consumer electronics into other areas, resulting in better quality of life for all of the world’s citizens.”

If you are looking for resources and experts to provide insightful commentary on consumer electronics topics, please contact IEEE at ieee-PR@ruderfinn.com.

About IEEE

IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.), the world’s largest technical professional society, is commemorating its 125thanniversary in 2009 by “Celebrating 125 Years of Engineering the Future” around the globe. Through its more than 375,000 members in 160 countries, IEEE is a leading authority on a wide variety of areas ranging from aerospace systems, computers and telecommunications to biomedical engineering, electric power and consumer electronics. Dedicated to the advancement of technology, IEEE publishes 30 percent of the world’s literature in the electrical and electronics engineering and computer science fields, and has developed nearly 900 active industry standards. The organization annually sponsors more than 850 conferences worldwide. Additional information about IEEE can be found at http://www.ieee.org.