Chipping in

Small intelligent sensors originally developed by a UK firm to help large multinational companies in their market research are to find their way into the smart homes of the future.

Over the past two years

of Luton has been trialling the technology with a large multinational consumer goods firm to monitor the usage of products during consumer trials.

During the market research process companies provide sample products to a large trial group of customers and ask them to record their usage and opinions over a period of time. However, market researchers estimate that only around 25 per cent of the feedback is accurate and that many of the forms filled out by customers have been falsified.

Whistonbrook incorporated a variety of sensors into products that ranged from temperature and light sensors to monitor products kept in the fridge, to weight sensors that could measure how much of the product had been used.