be destroyed, and could retain data for
the appliance in case of a fire or other
failure event.
Data can be communicated to a remote service center or a hand-held device, and further, the remote service
center can interactively control the appliance via the central collector. Some
examples include: a stove with a built-in
stirrer remotely controlled and an ingredient dispenser controlled by a wireless
device and a sensor that monitors the
cook top pan remotely.
Additional household appliances subject to remote monitoring are washing
machines, dryers, dishwashers, refrigerators, freezers, toasters, blenders, mixers, food processors, coffee makers, and
so on. The user can be notified by his
hand-held device with alerts about the
products being monitored. For a fee,
the appliances can also be monitored
by the manufacturer to include failures
diagnoses.
GE also offers a Nucleus Energy Manager, which includes a programmable
thermostat, washer, dryer, and dishwasher. The program manager collects
real-time information about energy use
in the home, providing vital data about
the circumstances occurring at or near
the time of a loss. These home energy
management systems offer different levels of energy monitoring and control
over home appliances.
Vehicle EDR Data and
Legislative Action
In Arkansas, California, Colorado,
Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire,
New York, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, and Washington,
state laws have been enacted related to
EDRs in vehicles. State statutes have
been ratified based on consumer complaints about companies obtaining
vehicle data without the owner even
The Thought Police
Just like the thought police in “1984,”
major companies such as LG, General
Electric, and Panasonic implement accelerated smart technology in their
products. In fact, LG now offers appliances with THINQ Technology which
permits “smart” washers and dryers, ovens, stoves, vacuums, dishwashers, and
refrigerators to be Wi-Fi controlled, and
to include smart metering. This new technology collects critical information about
the appliances’ performances that needs
to be evaluated for subrogation recovery.
Further, LG offers a Smart Diagnosis program that allegedly notices when something goes wrong in a home appliance
and issues alerts on the product’s display
panel. This program will soon offer Wi-Fi
appliance alerts to consumers.
Panasonic unveiled its own energy
smart product line called ECONAVI,
which features 30 new appliances, including refrigerators, washers, air conditioners, microwaves, bread makers, rice
cookers, and so on. These products were
developed to monitor a user’s living environment and adjust usage accordingly.
They also collect valuable data about the
product and its environment, which is
an important part of any subrogation investigation involving product losses.
