Can you imagine receiving a text message because the temperature in your house got too chilly? Or how about receiving a streaming video message showing you what the kids are doing at home while you’re away? Well guess what? This type of technology is on it’s way to a cellphone or Blackberry near you!

Home-monitoring technology has typically been pitched as a security and safety measure but families are tapping in to this cutting edge tech data to obsess over their homes, families, and even their laundry.

According to The Wall Street Journal, AT&T recently launched a monthly service called Remote Monitor that beams streaming video from homecams to cellphones and can send customized text message alerts whenever their is movement in particular rooms of a house. This technology has been a huge breakthrough for the monitoring of seniors in various living situations. Programs allow e-mails to be sent to families notifying them what their elderly relatives have been up to from taking walks to how many times they visit the bathroom.

Best Buy has recently released a specialty home monitoring system with features that allow you to turn

on the sprinklers or washing machine remotely. How cool is that? ConnectedLife.Home runs about $15,000 and requires professional installation. Technology? Magic? Who cares, just imagine being able to preheat your oven or warm up the house after a full day at work and have everything ready when you walk in the door. Amazing!

Cellphone companies are tapping in to this type of technology as part of a broader push to use cellphones for more than just phone calls. According to a research firm in Dallas, the home monitoring industry is expected to quadruple its revenue in the next 5 years.

This technology is a great tool for parents tracking kids on GPS maps on their phones, or parents observing babysitters while they are out on the town. Real estate agents can monitor open houses by placing sensors on an oven to see just how many times it gets opened.

I just admitted my mother to an assisted care living facility and the idea of using my cellphone and the Quiet Care remote monitoring system would be a great tool for me to actually see how she is doing when I can’t make it over there to physically check on her. 

Escapist? Sure, sometimes. Voyeuristic? Maybe, a bit. But, doesn’t more security and information, give you more freedom?