Cyberspace gets domestic

"A comprehensive showcase of art and technology" called Cyberhome 2000 opened yesterday evening at the Blasthaus Gallery in San Francisco. ComputerLife magazine and Intel have sponsored the transformation of the gallery into the high-tech home of the future--as seen by Intel, IBM, Compaq, and Hewlett-Packard. (Intel is an investor in CNET: The Computer Network.)

Artist Adam Savage and architect Dan Corr included futuristic technology adhering to a "form follows function" maxim.

Blasthaus is at 217 Second Street; the show runs through May 18.

Jeff Enos, associate features editor for ComputerLife, wears virtual reality entertainment goggles by Forte.

Michael Penwarden, ComputerLife's executive editor, sits in an old-fashioned dentist chair at a PC desk of the future, using an email system that sends picture postcards.

The kitchen features an IBM under-the-counter touch-screen system that serves as a control center for many of the utilities as well as a Web surfing terminal.

Parked inside the Cyberhome 2000: Intel's car of the future, featuring a dash-mounted voice-control microphone linked to the Intel computer that runs audio and video components, including GPS maps and video entertainment systems with screens mounted on the back of each seat. A video camera mounted on the center driver's console monitors the rear passenger area of the vehicle.