Internet Home Alliance is embarking on a new study to see how technology can ease another time-consuming home chore: laundry.

The study, called Laundry Time, will determine how effective an "intelligent" laundry solution is at simplifying and saving time on laundry tasks while also uncovering consumer attitudes about remote access and control of laundry appliances. An open collaboration involving some of the nation's top technology and consumer products companies, the study includes products, services and intelligence from Whirlpool Corporation, Hewlett Packard, Microsoft, Panasonic and Procter & Gamble.

Laundry Time is built around a connected laundry solution that links a washer and dryer to a home network and sends text messages about the laundry's progress to a computer, TV and/or cell phone. This revolutionary technology enables consumers to manage the laundry process from remote locations such as a grocery store or soccer game, freeing them up to go about their day rather than forcing them to stay home to manage the process.

"Generally, most people tend to 'batch' their laundry -- washing and drying at the same time -- and they stay home during the hours it takes to manage the laundry process," said Carol Priefert, Senior Product Development Manager, Whirlpool Corporation. "Whirlpool research shows that the average consumer 'batches' about six and a half loads one day per week, while heavy users may 'batch' as many as 15 loads. Laundry Time will test ways to make it easier for people to manage the process remotely or while doing other things around the home."