Home Automation Technology
So you thought the video recorder was difficult?
The technology for home automation has been in
existence for many years. It is being widely adopted in North America, where
over 40 per cent of new homes have some level of automation installed. It will
be of no surprise that what is there now will ultimately be in the UK in a few
years.
There are varying levels of technology adoption in the UK today, but it tends to
be standalone and not integrated – more ‘boys toys’ than an actual lifestyle
change. Many UK households are enjoying home cinema and the benefits of
broadband, but this is certainly small fry compared to North America.
Shaw Tower, in Vancouver, Canada, (www.livingatshawtower.com) is a prime
example. This block of apartments from 780 to 6,000 sq ft, ranging in price from
around £150,000 to £2.5 million, is all fully wired with outlets in every room
ready for telephone, cable television, super high-speed Internet and a fully
functional 100Mb local area computer network. The Internet connection is at some
5Mbps, which puts the UK’s standard broadband to shame. There is also home
theatre with Sony Wega Plasma technology, multi-room distributed music systems,
automated lighting control systems and a super thin LCD television built into
the kitchen.
But this is only part of it. Integration does not only mean television and
Internet, it also means the interfacing of all audio visual (radio, DVD, VCR,
CD), heating, air conditioning, lighting, intruder alarms, CCTV and even
swimming pool, sauna, lawn sprinkler and curtain/blind controls. Homes can have
multi-zone lighting and heating, with lights programmed when doors open, or
vehicles enter the drive, or to simulate occupation when the owners are away on
holiday.
All the systems and controls in a fully automated home are centred on a hub,
which is either a bespoke system or a normal PC. The interface with the
homeowner can be through a variety of channels: touchscreen modules, remote
controls or the home PC. This hub can also provide a web interface. Called x10
technology, it will enable homeowners to access the controls remotely from
anywhere in the world.
HAI (www.homeauto.com) is one of the major suppliers of home automation products
and systems to the US market. Apart from the hardware and systems themselves, it
offers Web-Link II software for use with web-enabled handheld or desktop PCs, as
well as mobile telephones. This enables the user to check the house video
surveillance to verify that the kids have arrived home safely from school,
switch the heating on, switch lights on, disarm the security system for an
arriving guest, turn the sauna so it is hot when he/she gets home, or even
switch the garden sprinkler on.
The main obstacle to any home automation is integration: all of the different
systems in a home use their own software, which tends to be incompatible with
others, and with the central hub which needs to be introduced to control them.
Whereas many of the options involve separate hub and then peripherals for user
interfaces, Pelham Sloane offers an integrated solution. Its PS1500 all-in-one
‘screenback’ PC can incorporate the hub and a touchscreen in a unit less than
three inches thick. “The key to home automation is simplicity,” explained Pelham
Sloane’s chairman, John Jensen.
“The user interface has to be clear and easy to use. The PS1500 provides the
central hub for home automation, which can be mounted on almost any wall or in
any environment and can incorporate touch screen controls. At the same time, it
can also work as a normal PC, as a television and radio.”
Pelham Sloane (www.pelhamsloane.com), one of the few British computer companies
operating in the US, was the first to introduce an all-in-one ‘screenback’ PC to
the US home automation market. Its all-in-one technology fits with the current
US trend where technology is a discrete addition to the home. Although in the UK
we tend to want to display our state-of-the-art technology, in the US they want
it hidden. Televisions are super-slim and
recessed wherever possible, as are speakers in ceilings.
This discretion extends as far as voice-activated controls. Automated Voice
Systems Inc (AVSI) introduced Butler-in-a-Box, which recognises specific
commands and will control any appliance or system. Originally designed for the
disabled market, it certainly has a ‘boys toys’ appeal!!
Discretion goes even further, and the beginnings of this trend are being seen
now. Gone will be the days of shelves of DVD and CD collections as all will be
stored not on discs but on a central hard drive, with new additions coming down
the line or downloaded from the Internet and not bought from the shops.
Apart from integration, the other obstacle in the US, which is certainly
pertinent in the UK, is consumer education. Allison Read, director of marketing
at HAI, explained: “The home automation market in the US has shown steady growth
in recent years. This has been because the consumer is becoming more aware of
the potential of home automation.
“This, coupled with the falling cost of components, has put it in the realms of
ordinary households, not just the super-apartments.”
To assist with furthering consumer understanding, the Consumer Electrics
Association in the US (www.ce.org) has developed a home technology rating
system. TechHome rates a home under five categories: entertainment,
communications, PC networking and Internet sharing, home security and home
comfort and convenience.
John Jensen has his feet in both camps – although Pelham Sloane is a British
company, he is from Connecticut. He is experiencing the home automation market
in the US and is introducing his products into the growing UK market:
“Home automation is going to become a huge market in the UK. The products being
developed in the US will be accepted readily in Europe in the near future. The
reverse is true of our unique screenback computers, which were developed in the
UK.
“The structure of the market in the US is similar to the UK. US house builders
were initially reluctant to incorporate technology. It was a case of educating
both the house builders and consumers alike.”
The average consumer will initially be overwhelmed by the technology, as they
were with the technicalities of programming the video recorder in the 1980s, but
ultimately, they will reap the benefits that this latest set of gadgets bring.
More information about the SmartHome
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