Technology gets personal to help deliver a better service.

You arrive at your rented accommodation. The owner, or manager, can't be there to meet you personally, but the door is programmed to recognise your smartphone. You enter the password into your phone, and the door opens to let you in. You get a phone or video call immediately, giving you a friendly welcome. You can also get a personalised tour of the apartment, based on which room you are standing in with your phone.

This is the vision of Professor Tom Qi. "Airbnb is a network of small businesses in New Zealand. The booking is centralised but the operational side of these businesses takes a lot of time." Technology can streamline many tasks while at the same time adding value for customers.

There are many other potential applications of smart house technologies. For example improved monitoring of people's location could be useful for providers of care for people with dementia, and patients wouldn't have to register their arrival at a clinic for an appointment. 

Tom has attracted overseas interest in his electronic engineering research but is keen to build another team of Masters of Design Enterprise students here, to work on New Zealand and international applications. This is a good opportunity for industry to support their staff, not just to gain a higher qualification with highly applied research, but also to bring the ideas and designs back into their company.