This is a world-changing invention.
The smoke alarm has saved perhaps hundreds of thousands
of lives, worldwide.
But smoke alarms don't prevent fires.
Every year in the USA, over 20,000 are killed or injured
with 350,000 home fires.
And one of the main causes of all these fires is electricity.
What if we could prevent electrical fires
before they start?
Well, a couple of friends and I figured out how to do this.
So how does electricity ignite residential fires?
Well it turns out that the main causes
are faulty and misused appliances and electrical wiring.
Our invention had to address all of these issues.
So what about circuit breakers?
Well, Thomas Edison invented the circuit breaker in 1879.
This is 130-year-old technology,
and this is a problem, because over 80 percent
of all home electrical fires
start below the safety threshold of circuit breakers.
Hmmm ...
So we considered all of this. And we realized
that electrical appliances
must be able to communicate directly
with the power receptacle itself.
Any electrical device -- an appliance, an extension cord, whatever --
must be able to tell the power outlet,
"Hey, power outlet,
I'm drawing too much current. Shut me off now, before I start a fire."
And the power outlet needs to be smart enough to do it.
So here is what we did. We put a 10-cent digital transponder,
a data tag, in the appliance plug.
And we put an inexpensive, wireless data reader inside the receptacle
so they could communicate.
Now, every home electrical system
becomes an intelligent network.
The appliance's safe operating parameters
are embedded into its plug.
If too much current is flowing,
the intelligent receptacle turns itself off,
and prevents another fire from starting.
We call this technology EFCI,
Electrical Fault Circuit Interrupter.
Okay, two more points. Every year in the USA,
roughly 2,500 children
are admitted to emergency rooms for shock and burn injuries
related to electrical receptacles. And this is crazy.
An intelligent receptacle prevents injuries
because the power is always off,
until an intelligent plug is detected. Simple.
Now, besides saving lives,
perhaps the greatest benefit of intelligent power
is in its energy savings.
This invention will reduce global energy consumption
by allowing remote control and automation
of every outlet in every home and business.
Now you can choose to reduce your home energy bill
by automatically cycling heavy loads
like air conditioners and heaters.
Hotels and businesses can shut down unused rooms
from a central location, or even a cell phone.
There are 10 billion electrical outlets
in North America alone.
The potential energy savings is very, very significant.
So far we've applied for 414 patent claims.
Of those, 186 have been granted:
228 are in process.
And I'm pleased to announce that just three weeks ago
we received our first international recognition,
the 2009 CES Innovation Award.
So, to conclude,
intelligent power can, globally, save thousands of lives,
prevent tens of thousands of injuries,
and eliminate tens of billions of dollars in property damage
every single year,
while significantly reducing global energy consumption.
In the spirit of this year's TED Conference,
we think this is a powerful, world-changing invention.
And I'd like to thank Chris for this opportunity
to unveil our technology with you, and soon the world.
Thank you.
(Applause)