To go with the "Kirigamine" series of air conditioners, Mitsubishi will now release the "Mimamori Server," an "IT controller" that allows their air conditioners to be network accessible.

Wait, what? Japan homes, free of central heating and air, are often equipped with space heaters and A/Cs for individual rooms. As such, there's typically o­nly o­ne or two A/Cs per family -- such as in the family room. I don't know how the majority of Japan works, but when I lived over there, we would o­nly turn it o­n during special occassions, such as when guests came by. Leave it to high electricity costs.

Anyway, keeping with this "A/C per room" concept, would it not make sense to integrate some sort of security system with the unit? They are, after all, strategically placed towards the ceiling -- a prime position for a camera.

So that's what the Mimamori Server is. An "A/C network adapter with a camera." Read more.

Mitsubishi Electric will release the "Mimamori Server" "IT controller" to go with the release of their "Kirigamine Move Eye" room air conditioner in late January. It was o­n display at last year's "CEATEC JAPAN 2004." The Mimamori Server will be released in late April, for a price of about 52,500 yen.

The Mimamori Server is a network adapter for an air conditioner that contains a small camera. It will allow operation of the A/C from outside with the use of a mobile phone, and allow the state of the inside of the home to be confirmed using the camera. It also has a function to automatically magnify and record certain parts when motion is recognized, making it also convenient for keeping watch over children or pets while away. Also, it is equipped with a feature called "Alarm Mail," which will send a mail to the user's mobile phone should the temperature inside the room get over a designated value.

If combining the Mimamori Server with the upper level "Z Series" "Kirigamire Move Eye" to be released o­n the same day, the left/right movement action of the Z Series can be linked with the Mimamori Server's motion recognition. This allows air to be set to either "follow/don't follow" the person.

Inside of the Mimamori Server lies 802.11b wireless LAN functionality, and the air conditioner can be added o­n to home networks already equipped with a LAN access point. Furthermore, while users need to apply for Mitsubishi's network service to use the Mimamori Server, the company is yet to decide usage charges. The company plans a seperate announcement regarding support handsets.



Inspired by:
http://www.itmedia.co.jp/lifestyle/articles/0501/13/news107.html

News Release:
http://www.mitsubishielectric.co.jp/news/2005/0113-c.htm