By Jane Blanchard, Special for USDR
“Oh, no. It’s her.”
She’s loud, she smells like garlic, and the only thing higher in the air than her beehive haircut is her nose – and she’s coming down your driveway. “Siri,” you whisper, “Away mode!”
The front door locks. All lights wink out. The radio turns off, and as you tiptoe into the bathroom, you hear her rasping at the front door, “Hello? Anyone there? I brought zucchini!”
“Thank you, HomeKit,” you whisper as you duck and cover beside the toilet.
Home Automation is taking off quickly and Apple devices, as usual, are heavily implemented in this Jetson’s-like revolution.
Via Dream Kitchens
A Man’s Home Is His Remotely Operated Network
Humans are forgetful and busy. We aren’t programmed to perform everyday tasks perfectly. That’s why toast burns, garage doors are left abandoned and you accidentally record over your favorite television show.
Enter the “smart” home, a house where every appliance and electronic is part of the Internet of Things, a network of automated home devices that you can autonomously and remotely control – or better yet, devices that control themselves: ovens that preheat themselves to accommodate your dinner schedule, weather-sensitive mood lighting, and whatever else third-party geniuses can conjure up.
Apple HomeKit: Developer API for Smart Homes
That’s where HomeKit comes in. HomeKit, announced by Apple at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June 2014, is a home automation platform, software that allows appliances and electronics to network with each other. Developers like iDevices, Insteon and Honeywell can manufacture products compatible with the platform. You, the consumer, can control everything via your iPhone. Each network, device and function has a name. For instance: Home – Oven – Pizza Preheat.
Technically, HomeKit debuted along with iOS 8, but it hasn’t been activated. Apple is still dotting its i’s and crossing its t’s when it comes to secure encryption, platform interoperability and user-friendly interfaces. However, many companies have already pledged their partnership, and a few brave ones launched their products at the Consumer Electronics Show 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Via Wikipedia.org Pictured: Apple I NOT released at CES 2015.
A Sampling of To-Be HomeKit Consumer Devices
Most products follow simple If-This-Then-That programming.
- If a burglar breaks a door or window, then the Elgato Eve Door & Window Sensor will text you an alert message.
- If you approach your front door handcuffed by groceries, then the Schlage Sense Bluetooth-connected door lock will politely unlock the door for you.
- Products like the iDevices Switch and the iHome iSP5 SmartPlug allow you to remotely turn off and on light bulbs, lamps, heaters and other electronics.
- Using HomeKit technology will, theoretically, enable you to create what Apple calls “groups” or “scenes.” Instructing Siri to engage “child-safety mode” will deactivate the stovetop, censor television programs, lock the basement door and so forth.
Via Model Remodel “Siri: Super Bowl Mode, please.”
For more home automation ideas, head to Modernize.com.
Jane Blanchard is a blogger, home design geek, and graphic designer from Savannah, GA. She currently writes for Modernize.com.