Needless to say, the above-mentioned lifestyle support services related to security, home nursing, and healthcare cannot be provided by network-connectable electric household appliances alone. To enhance these services, collaboration with companies in various fields is being planned and promoted.
For example, Hitachi H&L has teamed up with one of Japan's top healthcare support service companies to offer a health consultation service to its members. Through this service, doctors, nurses, hygienists, and other medical specialists respond to members' questions and provide guidance 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Collaborative efforts can extend beyond the medical and healthcare field: advanced home security services can be provided in cooperation with home equipment companies and security companies, and network-connected welfare facilities and multi-unit residential buildings can be constructed in cooperation with local governments and housing companies.

As explained in this article, network-connectable electric household appliances can take the comfort-/convenience-providing functions of existing electric household appliances to new heights while enhancing the level of security, reducing the burden on homecare nurses, and even offering preventive medical care by providing extensive health management functions. Network-connectable electric household appliances have the potential to offer crucial future solutions for Japanese society.
Efforts to establish home networks have just begun. In the long term, it is only natural that home electronics and IT—two essential technologies for today's society—merge and integrate. Ten years from now, the advanced living environment introduced in this article may be taken for granted.