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

Here are a few examples of how Laundry Time will work:

-- You decide to do your laundry while the family is watching TV. After you start the washer (the system will allow you to implement the process remotely), you relax in front of the TV. Thirty minutes later, an alert pops up on your TV screen saying, "Wash Complete," so you put the load in the dryer and put another load in the washer. You get a similar alert on your TV when the dryer is done, so you never forget about your laundry and can fold your clothes before they get wrinkled.

-- You settle down to do some Web surfing after a busy day. When you start up your browser, you get an Instant Message alert telling you that the dryer did not start its cycle. You realize that you forgot to press the start button. Laundry Time asks you in the IM whether you would like to start the cycle. With your mouse, you select "yes," which starts the dryer, and you continue Web surfing without interruption.

-- While running errands, you get an alert on your cell phone that the dryer is done. You don't want your clothes to sit in the dryer and wrinkle so you use a key on your cell phone to tell the dryer to "fluff" the load for an additional 15 minutes, the time it will take you to finish your errands and return home.

Laundry Time was tested in concept form in May 2004 when the Alliance launched a comprehensive research study to assess the appeal of notification about various types of events in and around the home.