What will the the connected home of the future look like? How will we interact with displays and controls?

Glass manufacturer Corning offers its vision of the future with this amazing 5-minute video.

The company foresees interactive screens everywhere, and I mean everywhere! In the bedroom, bathroom, refrigerator, kitchen countertops, bus stops, automobiles, workplace and of course, the home theater. Not to mention portable flexible glass screens also. Each screen communicates with the smartphone and immediately transfers data, and, of course, each system depends on some sort of glass (that’s where Corning comes in!). But the real crux of the video for integrators is the connectivity.

The video, called “A Day Made of Glass,” is nearly a year old but has 16 million views on YouTube. While watching it, I couldn’t help but think about all the digital signage and displays in the movie “Blade Runner”, but this Corning video paints a much brighter picture.

Source

Sadly for patients and loved ones alike, Alzheimer’s sufferers may be trapped in the now, unable to recognize family members or summon memories.

But music has been known to bring Alzheimer’s patients out of their reverie, reminding them of people and experiences gone by.

“We believe it can help to revive memories,” says Rob Garrett, principal of Cypress Springs Residence, an Alzheimer’s facility in Tulsa, Okla. (A second residence is under construction in Oklahoma City.) “For some of the residents, music was a big part of their lives.”

That is why Garrett and his team insisted on a multiroom audio system for Cypress Springs, settling on a PC-based solution from CasaTunes. The facility has two CasaTunes servers, seven XLe expansion boxes that deliver music to as many as 12 rooms each, and eight 12-channel amps.

CasaTunes CEO David Krinker says the system serves about 100 listening areas, including bedrooms of the 66 residents.

The system pipes music from two sources: Internet radio and Companion Radio, a satellite-based service specially created for residents and staff of senior living facilities.

Residents don’t operate the audio system by themselves, Garrett explains: “We don’t want to give them things that will frustrate them.” Instead, CasaTunes is controlled from a centralized location via a PC interface.

There is one caregiver per seven or eight residents, according to Garrett, so the staff knows each patient intimately. “We know that Mr. Smith likes jazz. It may help to calm him down or go to sleep.”

Across the facility, music also can serve as a trigger to signify meal time, bed time, or other activities. “They can often relate better to music than they can with words,” says Krinker.

Research shows that recalling sounds evokes memories of youth, increases self esteem, and puts dementia patients in a better mood. “Some of them go down the hall, and they’re whistling or humming,” he says. “They’re happy.”
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December 14, 2010 | by Julie Jacobson

If you live in the Houston area, you may be seeing some unusual activity from ADT and Xfinity (Comcast). The giant security and cable companies, respectively, are working double-duty to install home automation systems on top of their traditional security and entertainment services.

What should you make of these mass marketers straying so far from their comfort zones? Can they provide good, cheap alternatives to the home-control systems offered by specialty home integrators? Should you trust them with your lights, thermostats, surveillance cameras, home networks and remote access?

Since both programs just launched in October, it’s too soon to tell. However, we can provide tips to help you understand the new services and make the best decision for your home.

Both ADT and Xfinity offer pretty much the same solution, powered by software vendor iControl. (Xfinity has yet to publicly declare its product vendors, but let’s just assume it will continue to use iControl, as it is doing today.)

ADT calls its offering Pulse (www.adtpulse.com). The cable company just calls it Xfinity Home Security (www.comcast.com/homesecurity).

Both companies start by installing a traditional home security system. To that, they add an Internet gateway that communicates with the security system, as well as with surveillance cameras and various wireless Z-Wave devices such as thermostats and light switches. Via the Internet, consumers can monitor and control their connected devices.

Most consumers have no idea what home automation is, so the ADT and Xfinity offerings probably sound cutting-edge and super-cool. But Electronic House readers aren’t “most consumers,” so what should you make of this?

I won’t bury the lead much deeper: iControl is an excellent platform. Xfinity makes me nervous. ADT can pull it off.

The old Comcast once had a security installation group, but they didn’t get far with it. In its history of trying to install home controls, they haven’t a single success. ADT obviously can do security and they have a long history of at least dabbling in home automation. Also, they have a service infrastructure like nobody’s business, but are they out of their league with Pulse? The short answer is: as long as they keep it simple—a security system, thermostats, lighting and cameras—they’ll be good.

If that’s all you want, and most consumers do, then you should look at ADT Pulse. But don’t expect any crazy ads screaming “$99 INSTALLED!” For a complete Premier package, you’ll end up paying a few thousand dollars for an appropriate security system, a thermostat or two, a couple of cameras, and some automated lights. Professional monitoring plus remote home management costs $57.99 per month with a longish-term contract. Comcast charges less per month.

If you’re simply price-shopping, you can probably get a similar deal from a traditional custom electronics (CE) professional. They won’t be quite as inexpensive, but they can offer more than ADT can (see box).

Bottom line? I wrote earlier that there’s no such thing as a $99 TV install from Best Buy. Same thing goes for ADT and Comcast. Sure, see what they have. Then talk to a local specialist and compare.

Qualifying Questions
If you’re looking for a simple yet elegant solution for remotely managing your home security, lighting and thermostats, ADT and Comcast could work for you. Here are a few questions to ask them—and your local specialist—before you sign on the dotted line.

• Can I buy your system without a security monitoring agreement?
• Who installs the light switches and other high-voltage devices?
• What happens if my Z-Wave light switches stop working? Will you charge for coming out to fix it?
• Since you’re working with my home network, will you service it if something goes wrong?
• Can your cameras be tied to a whole-house video system so I can see them on any TV in the house?
• Can I control my music through your touchscreen?
• I like the good morning button to wake me up with lights and news radio. Can you do that?
• If I decide not to renew the security contract, will everything else keep working?
• Can your system integrate with some of the more advanced lighting-control products on the market?
• I’m interested. What are some more cool things I can do with this system?

Put Control of Your Home in the Palm of Your Hand

Snap-Link Mobile for iPhone puts control of all home functions in the palm of your hand! Simply click on the HAI logo that appears on your iPhone™ or iPod Touch™, and you have instant access to your home control page. From there you can:

• Conveniently control individual lights, turn off all lights in the home or room, dim lights or adjust preset lighting scenes
• View real time video of surveillance cameras – see your front door, pool, boat dock, etc. (Requires appropriate cellular provider plan and cameras)
• Conserve energy by adjusting heating and cooling and view humidity and outdoor temperatures
• Arm or disarm the alarm, view a security log to monitor activity of housekeepers, nannies, etc.
• Control your Whole Home Audio system. Select music source and adjust volume levels in individual rooms or the whole house

• Great for property managers, easily bring up all of your HAI-equipped homes, condos, or offices, within the same app.

• Adjust User Settings like Wake-Up Time or Irrigation hours.

• Great for property managers, easily bring up all of your HAI-equipped homes, condos, or offices, within the same app.

• Built-in support for HAI’s Camera Server and Dome Camera

Snap-Link Mobile for iPhone is designed specifically for an Apple device such as iPhone and iPod Touch, and also works on the iPad™ in compatability mode. It tunnels directly into the HAI home control system through a secure AES encrypted connection. It features secure encrypted communications over Wi-Fi or cellular data networks.

Purchasing Snap-Link Mobile for iPhone

Snap-Link Mobile for iPhone is downloaded directly into a mobile device from the iTunes store.

Snap-Link Mobile for iPhone is sold without subscription fees and users receive updates for free. Snap-Link Mobile for iPhone does not rely on any third parties to work other than cellular service. There is no set-up for Snap-Link Mobile for iPhone other than the initial installation.

Multiple Languages

Available in English, Catalan, Chinese, French, Italian, and Spanish.