The home PC is only being used an average of one to two hours a day, and it's only useful when you are within an arm's length of the keyboard and mouse. Imagine being able to tap into that computing power from your kitchen, bedroom, family room, basement or garage. The PC can now add value in your everyday life -- screening phone calls, managing your calendar, reminding you to pick up the kids from soccer practice, and controlling your lights and appliances.

To make whole-house computing a reality, IAL is working on new types of I/O such as natural language (speech recognition and speech synthesis), and new applications for the home and family. In addition, we are working with specific market segments in the industry to develop open standards for home device control, toys, and cordless PC peripherals accessed by infrared, radio frequency, and wireless technologies.