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Home Automation
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Posting Junkie
Join Date: Mar 2004
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What appliances, tasks or systems would you like to be able to automate more in your home or office?
On/off appliances like lamps or heaters are easy enough of course, but what about more complex things like making a cup of coffee or cooking a light snack?
I'm looking for things that people would consider essential in an automated home and things people would like to see. Some kind of indication of priority would be nice too. If you could automate one task, which would it be?
Is an iOS/Mac/Android app the best way to control all your home automation?
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I have plenty of more important things to do, if only I could bring myself to do them....
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Interesting idea
There's the things you sometimes have to get someone to do while on vacation, those are obvious targets: water plants, feed pets, collect deliveries.
Then there's the things that take prep time: warm oven, draw bath, turn on hot tub.
Then there's the things we'd rather not do: take out trash, vacuum, dust, clean pet... stuff, and clean the bathroom.
Once those targets are met, I imagine something like usage tracking: it can tell you which things you haven't used in the last x months and offer to sell or donate them, like articles of clothing, exercise equipment, electronics, shoes, etc.
Having control of various things separately is clearly inferior to having control all in one place, especially if the controller is mobile and you carry it anyway. Like I had an oven that would let you time-start and time-stop it, but I never used it because I would have to learn a new control interface and it always slipped my mind to do that.
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Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jun 2001
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Lighting has been the big thing for me.
Specifically, I live in a loft, so I have one big room with almost a dozen floor/table lamps. Working that by hand would be impractical.
My latest project was to set up a sensor on the window which turns the lights on or off depending upon how bright it is out. I still have the iPhone as an emergency remote though.
The other projects on my list are all in the "obvious" category.
Thermostat
Alarm system
Garage door
I use Insteon gear, and Indigo Server on a Mini to run it all.
While I'm pro-smartphone app, I've found you can't beat a keypad for speed of input. Depending upon what you're trying to do, pressing a physical button really beats the hell out of dicking with your phone.
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subego: so you use a keyboard connected to the mini to control all those lights (is each light a separate button, or are all lights on one master on/off switch?) do you have a dedicated screen setup in a "station" area to turn them on and off?
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I wrote a long post earlier but I went elsewhere before submitting and thanks to Safari's great 'feature' of reloading pages for no offing reason I lost it all which was nice. I'll try again:
Subego. Do you have many lights or many different types of lights in your loft? Do you use different lighting profiles or would you like to? Perhaps to match a mood or to just have sidelights on while watching a movie or something?
Have you looked at the Nest thermostat? Any thoughts on it?
Uncleskeleton, some nice ideas there, thanks for thinking beyond the box a bit! Some of yours strike me as simple enough to achieve. Turning on the oven or hot tub to warm up is easy enough already, I should think running a bath would just be a matter of some good sensors and an overflow that exceeds the fill rate just in case. Food and water dispensers for pets or plants should be simple enough if they don't exist already.
As for your second list, I once saw a house which had a distributed vacuum system where ducts run throughout the house and there are circular attachments so you can attach hoses or nozzles to vacuum up spills etc and floor level vents which you can sweep dust and dirt into. I assume they all kick out into a bin or trash bag or something. I don't know what this system is called and have never spotted one since I saw this one on TV a few years back, perhaps they are more common in the US?
If you had multiple systems running side by side, you could have a set in your kitchen with grinders (like garbage disposal units) but with separate ones for plastic, glass, food. These could all be shredded on entry to the vacuum tubes and composted or vacuum packed for removal in the basement or wherever. A Roomba style robot vacuum cleaner could empty its dust traps into the floor level vents when full.
I can't think of a good way to automate cleaning the bathroom without an element of risk. If you had a wet room you could build in a steam cleaning system of some kind but you couldn't run it on a schedule or you might catch someone inside and scald them to death.
On the subject of control, the first thing I imagine is a menu based iOS app with a hierarchy probably organised by room or device type with single devices or tasks having their own set of controls at the bottom of said hierarchy including a scheduler for each task or appliance. It would be great to be able to operate those controls by voice when Siri finally gets an API, especially from outside your home network.
Should lights turn on automatically when they sense someone in a room or designated area? How important is it for devices to learn users habits and do things automatically as a result?
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I have plenty of more important things to do, if only I could bring myself to do them....
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Originally Posted by Waragainstsleep
. Food and water dispensers for pets or plants should be simple enough if they don't exist already.
They do exist, but I'm told that the food gets stale in them. Maybe people just tell me that so I'll have to keep coming to pet-sit, thereby accomplishing ulterior goals like shuffling the lights (to dissuade burglars) or actually petting the pets. Can you automate affection?
As for your second list, I once saw a house which had a distributed vacuum system where ducts run throughout the house and there are circular attachments so you can attach hoses or nozzles to vacuum up spills etc and floor level vents which you can sweep dust and dirt into. I assume they all kick out into a bin or trash bag or something. I don't know what this system is called and have never spotted one since I saw this one on TV a few years back, perhaps they are more common in the US?
It's called Central Vacuum, I was in a house with it once, and the owner told me it was one of those fashionable new features that's in a lot of new construction, but I have not seen it in any other place.
A Roomba style robot vacuum cleaner could empty its dust traps into the floor level vents when full.
I thought Roomba was going to be our entrance into the Jetsons era of household robot servitude, but alas you have to spend almost as much time cleaning the roomba as you save on cleaning the floors. I fear that any robot on the front lines of grit and grime is going to require arduous maintenance, just because dust and dirt are hard on electronics.
I can't think of a good way to automate cleaning the bathroom without an element of risk. If you had a wet room you could build in a steam cleaning system of some kind but you couldn't run it on a schedule or you might catch someone inside and scald them to death.
It seems like a similar challenge to the self-cleaning oven (which I've always been afraid to use). Maybe they will eventually solve it by always tracking the movements of all occupants, so they can rule out the possibility of someone in the bathroom by both deductive and inductive logic. Once it's working, maybe it can be expanded to pest control....
On the subject of control, the first thing I imagine is a menu based iOS app with a hierarchy probably organised by room or device type with single devices or tasks having their own set of controls at the bottom of said hierarchy including a scheduler for each task or appliance. It would be great to be able to operate those controls by voice when Siri finally gets an API, especially from outside your home network.
Should lights turn on automatically when they sense someone in a room or designated area? How important is it for devices to learn users habits and do things automatically as a result?
I would also hope for a "favorites" or "bookmarks" for tasks the user already knows they want to do often or easily. (Even if you don't have a date over often, you might still want a one-button function to do something covertly)
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@Waragainstsleep
I have played around with different profiles, but I've ultimately gravitated to either on or off.
I'm not sure I understand your question about different types of lights.
I have seen the Nest, and it looks pretty nifty. I haven't investigated how well it would integrate with the system I already have.
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Clinically Insane
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@Waragainstsleep again
I've personally found iOS devices make less than stellar remotes. There's too much lag between when you want to do something and navigating to the app, waiting for it to load, and then waiting for it to connect with the server. Anything you want to do regularly needs a "hard" button of some type.
That being said, iOS integration isn't useless or anything, it's just not ideal as the one remote to rule them all if you get my drift.
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Originally Posted by subego
@Waragainstsleep
I have played around with different profiles, but I've ultimately gravitated to either on or off.
I'm not sure I understand your question about different types of lights.
I meant like overhead ceiling lights, standing lamps, table lamps sidelights or wall lights, those lights you get under cabinets in the kitchen. If you care, you can create all manner of different ambiences with all sorts of different lights.
Do you think there would be a market for remote controlled lights that could change colours? Even if only varying the shade of white by making it warmer by making it more yellow or something,
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I have plenty of more important things to do, if only I could bring myself to do them....
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Professional Poster
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Originally Posted by subego
I use Insteon gear, and Indigo Server on a Mini to run it all.
I've used X-10 stuff my entire life and it has been great. My parents are upgrading their iMac G5 to the next gen iMac and weren't sure what automation software to use. I think they use something by Indigo right now, but I wasn't sure of its compatibility with Mountain Lion.
Originally Posted by Uncle Skeleton
It's called Central Vacuum, I was in a house with it once, and the owner told me it was one of those fashionable new features that's in a lot of new construction, but I have not seen it in any other place.
My sister in law has one in her house and I've used it a few times. I've never seen or even heard of the floor dustpan though. Now that is a feature I think I would like.
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AT&T iPhone 5S and 6; 13" MBP; MDD G4.
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Clinically Insane
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Ah... I got ya.
Excepting a pair of wall sconces in a hall, and under-cabinet lighting in the kitchen, everything is a plug-in lamp (floor/table/desk).
That's my number one tip to setting a mood: light fixtures make things look like shit, lamps make the home.
I think the most desirable color change would be as you say, a change on the warm/cool scale (a/k/a color temperature). I personally really like the temp of 75W incandescent bulbs, so I don't know if I'd go changing things up myself.
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What I would like to setup, a personal tracking system in the house that knows where I am and can predict what I will be doing with some adaptive Ai that learns and adapts to changes.
Using some sort of personal transmitter like BlueTooth or another technology, the house will know where I am. When I leave a room it will turn off all lights. Lock the computer. Turn off TVs and devices. (PVRs would be programmed by the computer so it knows if it can or cant turn that off). As it predicts where I am walking it will turn on the lights before I enter those halls or rooms and then close them as I pass through or leave them.
When I the house it will automatically alarm the house and when I return it will automatically un-arm the house. It will predict based on patterns like work schedule to start my car 5 minutes before I leave the house (10 minutes in the winter).
A find me follow me system in the house for phones if there is a landline, instead of all phones in the house ringing when some one calls, only the phone closest to me will ring. Will announce and read the call display only in the room I am in instead of the entire house.
If a intruder was detected in the home it would lock and seal all doors, allowing the override only by those with the code to move from room to room.
Fire detection system would also close and seal all doors and windows and limit fire suppression to the affected room. Using water if occupied and a gas if not to prevent water damage. Of course every room would need to be equipped with a mask and tank so the system can be overrided to gas while occupied.
Im more interested in not the automation but the monitoring. Sensors in the water system that is checking water quality every hour. Sensors checking air quality, humidity levels, temp. A rapid response environmental system that can heat up the room or cool it down in a minute. That can remove dust from the air, keep it smelling fresh. Would be nice if it was powerful enough to evacuate most of the oxygen to render a intruder unconscious.
Personal health monitoring system that can monitor heart rate, when it detects death automatically calls 911 (this can be done with thermal imaging and ultrasound)
The computer to learn what are your fav shows and to suggest them to you on a display before they start, and is smart enough to know if im not in the house at the time or not in a room with a TV to record it for later play back. To monitor everything that goes into the fridge and cupboards and to create lists for purchase or even purchases them for you from online stores.
For more advance automation that would require some robotics to, automatic washing systems for plates and cloth (though I can't really envision a automatic system to fold the cloth.
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Blandine Bureau 1940 - 2011
Missed 2012 by 3 days, RIP Grandma :-(
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Clinically Insane
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Originally Posted by SSharon
I've used X-10 stuff my entire life and it has been great. My parents are upgrading their iMac G5 to the next gen iMac and weren't sure what automation software to use. I think they use something by Indigo right now, but I wasn't sure of its compatibility with Mountain Lion.
My sister in law has one in her house and I've used it a few times. I've never seen or even heard of the floor dustpan though. Now that is a feature I think I would like.
I use Indigo as well. It's ridiculously powerful.
Not sure about ML compatibility, but I'm sure it's being worked on. AFAIK, it's pretty much one guy.
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Originally Posted by Athens
When I the house it will automatically alarm the house and when I return it will automatically un-arm the house.
Yes! That would be killer. I don't want to wear a tracking device, but it would be nice if the house could somehow recognize the residents from intruders using only endogenous cues, and take care of security without intervention. Also turn off the stove, tv, lights, climate, etc if you left it on, and by preference turn them back on when you return.
The devil is in the details though. I've had a thumb-print-activated door lock for many years, and while it's nice to not need to carry a key, it really sucks when it can't recognize my print on the first try. So my point is that the accuracy of recognition can make or break a system like this.
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@Waragainstsleep some more
Why are you asking? I feel like I can give better answers if I know why.
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I'm just doing some research to find out what people want the most from home automation. This is all good stuff though.
Athens, I have pondered such a bluetooth tracking system since I was at school when it occurred to me that the school office never had any idea where a given kid actually was at a given time. Its basically like the communicator badges on Star Trek TNG.
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I have plenty of more important things to do, if only I could bring myself to do them....
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Originally Posted by Uncle Skeleton
Yes! That would be killer. I don't want to wear a tracking device, but it would be nice if the house could somehow recognize the residents from intruders using only endogenous cues, and take care of security without intervention. Also turn off the stove, tv, lights, climate, etc if you left it on, and by preference turn them back on when you return.
The devil is in the details though. I've had a thumb-print-activated door lock for many years, and while it's nice to not need to carry a key, it really sucks when it can't recognize my print on the first try. So my point is that the accuracy of recognition can make or break a system like this.
Auto off for a stove is a good feature. I do have reservations for auto on's like starting the cooking of something before you wake up or get home just because you never know if something was accedently left on the burner.
Hey that gives me a good idea though. A Freezer/Fridge mini stove/microwave. You put your meals in it ready to be cooked (remove the packaging) and at a set time or using GPS to know where you are and how far away you are it starts cooking it so its ready as you walk in the door.
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Blandine Bureau 1940 - 2011
Missed 2012 by 3 days, RIP Grandma :-(
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Originally Posted by Waragainstsleep
I'm just doing some research to find out what people want the most from home automation. This is all good stuff though.
Athens, I have pondered such a bluetooth tracking system since I was at school when it occurred to me that the school office never had any idea where a given kid actually was at a given time. Its basically like the communicator badges on Star Trek TNG.
If I could buy a bluetooth 2 piece phone, that was a simple badge you stuck on your shirt like in Startrek with a second part in your ear with answering calls as simple as one tap, ending a call was 2 taps and placing calls was a tap and speak I would buy it in a heart beat. That would complete the i(PAD)
It is really hard to ignore the influence Star Trek had on Steve Jobs vision of technology.
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Blandine Bureau 1940 - 2011
Missed 2012 by 3 days, RIP Grandma :-(
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Originally Posted by Athens
Originally Posted by Uncle Skeleton
Yes! That would be killer. I don't want to wear a tracking device, but it would be nice if the house could somehow recognize the residents from intruders using only endogenous cues, and take care of security without intervention. Also turn off the stove, tv, lights, climate, etc if you left it on, and by preference turn them back on when you return.
The devil is in the details though. I've had a thumb-print-activated door lock for many years, and while it's nice to not need to carry a key, it really sucks when it can't recognize my print on the first try. So my point is that the accuracy of recognition can make or break a system like this.
Auto off for a stove is a good feature. I do have reservations for auto on's like starting the cooking of something before you wake up or get home just because you never know if something was accedently left on the burner.
An induction stove wouldn't care
But I can see people preferring gas, in which case you'd need a beefy monitoring system. On the other hand, that would be an important feature on its own: something to protect you from forgetting about your water boiling, it all boils off and keeps on going, starting a fire. Apparently a fire started that way in my building, once before I got here.
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Originally Posted by Athens
It is really hard to ignore the influence Star Trek had on Steve Jobs vision of technology.
On consumers too. But I'm still mystified that no flip-phone ever got the Kirk communicator treatment. You can speaker-phone it, but without either the signature sound or the retro appearance, it's really lacking.
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There was never a worthwhile PADD emulator app for iPhone or iPad either. Baffling.
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I have plenty of more important things to do, if only I could bring myself to do them....
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Originally Posted by Waragainstsleep
There was never a worthwhile PADD emulator app for iPhone or iPad either. Baffling.
Great idea. It could be a rad* OS skin. Does android allow skinning?
*intentional TNG-contemporary slang
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I think there might have been some kind of LCARs skin available with a jailbreak.
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I have plenty of more important things to do, if only I could bring myself to do them....
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A butler can do all these things, and has an exceptionally convenient auditory interface with voice recognition.
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Clinically Insane
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Originally Posted by Uncle Skeleton
Yes! That would be killer. I don't want to wear a tracking device, but it would be nice if the house could somehow recognize the residents from intruders using only endogenous cues, and take care of security without intervention. Also turn off the stove, tv, lights, climate, etc if you left it on, and by preference turn them back on when you return.
The devil is in the details though. I've had a thumb-print-activated door lock for many years, and while it's nice to not need to carry a key, it really sucks when it can't recognize my print on the first try. So my point is that the accuracy of recognition can make or break a system like this.
While a tracking device isn't ideal, and when presented the idea think to myself "I don't want to carry a dongle", however I may have a partial solution.
Make the tracker like a FitBit. If you're not familiar, it's a bluetooth pedometer. If the tracker also tracks things you would like to improve about yourself (such as number of steps taken), you not only don't mind carrying a dongle, you start to intensely desire it.
The Silicon Valley buzzword is "gamification", and it absolutely works for me. I get pissed when I forget my FitBit.
Admittedly, I walk 8 miles plus per day, so the FitBit gives me nicely satisfying numbers. My ex is a lot less active, and I think hers might end up just pissing her off.
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Every cell phone is a tracking device you know. Been that way for about 6 years now.
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Blandine Bureau 1940 - 2011
Missed 2012 by 3 days, RIP Grandma :-(
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I don't carry a cell phone
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Originally Posted by Athens
Auto off for a stove is a good feature. I do have reservations for auto on's like starting the cooking of something before you wake up or get home just because you never know if something was accedently left on the burner.
Hey that gives me a good idea though. A Freezer/Fridge mini stove/microwave. You put your meals in it ready to be cooked (remove the packaging) and at a set time or using GPS to know where you are and how far away you are it starts cooking it so its ready as you walk in the door.
Please be careful with this idea.
Things could get out of control...
http://www.hulu.com/watch/149653
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Clinically Insane
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Originally Posted by Athens
Every cell phone is a tracking device you know. Been that way for about 6 years now.
Because of the crap-ass battery, I'm pretty sure my phone thinks I spend most of my time lying perfectly still right next to a power outlet.
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Posting Junkie
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Is the GPS on a phone really good enough to pinpoint when you walk into a room though? I thought commercial GPS was limited to several meters accuracy.
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I have plenty of more important things to do, if only I could bring myself to do them....
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Clinically Insane
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Not to mention it more or less needs line-of-sight with the sky.
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I also doesn't help you when you get out of bed in the middle of the night.
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No, its good enough to know when you are home or not. For room to room tracking that is where bluetooth and wifi comes in handy
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Blandine Bureau 1940 - 2011
Missed 2012 by 3 days, RIP Grandma :-(
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Or simple motion detectors.
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Clinically Insane
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Yeah. :/
You could always do things like laser detectors at torso-height in doorways to detect when people enter and leave rooms.
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Clinically Insane
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Or a Kinect.
(which has lasers I presume, but you know what I'm saying)
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The ir motion detectors, well the good ones, have settings for size to eliminate pets. I've also seen under floor weight sensors using stress gauges. Bluetooth isn't very good because the standard chips don't report signal strength really so you need special chips that can basically work on any frequency, and you have to have your phone on you. I don't think the passive RFID chips that are small enough to fit in jewelry have enough transmit power but those would be ideal if you could get them to transmit 10 or 15ft.
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What about plain old video and object recognition. It could track humans, pets, intruders, pests, and even possessions, and tell the difference between them. To expand on an idea from my first post, it could tell you where you left... everything. "Hal, where's my red sweater?" "You left it behind the pod bay doors, Dave."
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Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Great White North
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Originally Posted by nonhuman
Yeah. :/
You could always do things like laser detectors at torso-height in doorways to detect when people enter and leave rooms.
Still wouldn't know who you are though
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Blandine Bureau 1940 - 2011
Missed 2012 by 3 days, RIP Grandma :-(
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Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Nov 2003
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RFID implants, maybe? I'd like for my house to know that I'm home but my GF isn't. Then it could turn the AC down to like 60, turn the music up to 11, cook me some hot pockets, fetch me a PBR, and put on some COPS...or porn. Whatevs. It would know.
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Posting Junkie
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: UK
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I have plenty of more important things to do, if only I could bring myself to do them....
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Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Chicago, Bang! Bang!
Status:
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Pabst Blue Ribbon.
It's, umm... "discount" beer.
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Arizona
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I like chicken
I like liver
Meow Mix, Meow Mix
Please de-liv-er
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Posting Junkie
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: UK
Status:
Offline
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I've heard of it, just didn't spot the acronym. I gather its trendy at the moment, its mentioned in a Lana Del Rey song if memory serves.
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I have plenty of more important things to do, if only I could bring myself to do them....
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Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Chicago, Bang! Bang!
Status:
Offline
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It's (unfathomably) been that way for awhile. It's a square on hipster bingo.
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Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Great White North
Status:
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Originally Posted by pottymouth
RFID implants, maybe? I'd like for my house to know that I'm home but my GF isn't. Then it could turn the AC down to like 60, turn the music up to 11, cook me some hot pockets, fetch me a PBR, and put on some COPS...or porn. Whatevs. It would know.
I still think the bluetooth in a Cell phone is the best way to go. Its short range, enough that a house could tell which room a person is in. Its personal, almost every one has a cell phone and as a device is unique to the person. If you have 3 people living in the same home, it can let the house identify who is who. Its off the shelf technology that does not require any thing special.
Would work for allowing music to follow a person from room to room, adjusting lights, temperature, mood, security, victim location, communication redirection for incoming calls. Between the local bluetooth abilities for inside the home, with a app as well the house could track via GPS out side of the home as well. When it detects the occupant is on there way home and only a few minutes away it can automatically prepare stuff.
Lots of possibilities.
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Blandine Bureau 1940 - 2011
Missed 2012 by 3 days, RIP Grandma :-(
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Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Chicago, Bang! Bang!
Status:
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This is great until your phone runs out of juice, thus making your house forget who you are.
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Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Rockville, MD
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Easy, just don't charge both your phones at the same time. Don't you carry 2 phones (you luddite)?
PS. Wireless power (and charging). I can't believe we don't have this yet. Especially for things that don't leave the house like mice and keyboards.
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Posting Junkie
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: UK
Status:
Offline
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Originally Posted by Athens
I still think the bluetooth in a Cell phone is the best way to go. Its short range, enough that a house could tell which room a person is in. Its personal, almost every one has a cell phone and as a device is unique to the person. If you have 3 people living in the same home, it can let the house identify who is who. Its off the shelf technology that does not require any thing special.
Would work for allowing music to follow a person from room to room, adjusting lights, temperature, mood, security, victim location, communication redirection for incoming calls. Between the local bluetooth abilities for inside the home, with a app as well the house could track via GPS out side of the home as well. When it detects the occupant is on there way home and only a few minutes away it can automatically prepare stuff.
Lots of possibilities.
I'm now thinking some kind of bluetooth bracelet using similar tech to those Seiko Kinetic watches to keep itself charged would be a good compromise. You could also make it into a watch strap if you wished.
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I have plenty of more important things to do, if only I could bring myself to do them....
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