How would you like to live in a house that recognises your fingerprints and opens the front door automatically? Imagine a fridge that checks your food supplies and places orders to replenish them; or intelligent lights and air conditioners that adjust their settings automatically according to the light and heat available at various times of the day. What about a microwave oven that can send a message to your PDA saying that the cake you kept to bake is done? These are all possible in the near future. In fact, many of these devices have already made their debut using embedded systems for controlling them and the Bluetooth technology for communication.

Homes of the future will employ embedded technology devices to become 'intelligent', wherein you have a network of smart devices such as a fridge, TV, microwave oven, washing machine, etc. They will be able to optimise themselves or report maintenance problems to technicians using built-in management functions. And they will also be connected to the Internet in most cases.

Real time OSes will work wonders when it comes to intelligent houses. The advantage they have over desktop OSes is their low cost. Also, an intelligent house may have more than 50 different devices in it. Imagine the cost of licensing that many copies of Windows 2000! Also, RTOSs are capable of being inter-networked, which enables co-ordinated functioning between devices at a scale that is unimaginable if desktop OSes are used. Imagine getting scalded while having a hot shower--all because of an OS 'freeze' or 'crash'. Ouch!