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Wired vs Wireless home

The modern home requires a technology infrastructure that uses a combination of wired and wireless networks.

Wireless technologies and products are very convenient. Being wireless allow us to be mobile, without being tethered to a wired data socket.

As convenient as being wireless is, it is not without problems, that a wired network does not have. Wireless systems can frustratingly have connectivity issues, be susceptible to interference, and can be quite slow at times.

A wired infrastructure is not only preferred, it’s a prerequisite. Each home system (power, lighting, lighting control, security, entertainment etc.) should be installed on it’s own wired network, and be integrated with each other systems as part of a wider, wired network.

The potential ramifications of not implementing a quality wired infrastructure are wide, and can greatly affect other technology systems throughout a modern home. A well designed wired network infrastructure will very rarely be a cause of potential problems.

A wireless network compliments the wired network, and should only be used for system control, by mobile devices, remote controls etc., and for wireless internet browsing.

Also consider, a quality wireless system requires a decent wired infrastructure to ensure adequate performance and coverage of the necessary wireless access points.

Wireless products themselves are typically not truely wireless. They still require a connection to a power outlet, unless the device is mobile, and powered by a battery.

Never underestimate the importance of a wired infrastructure. With reliability and performance being primary objectives for a modern home, you should always look to minimise risk – a wired infrastructure almost always ensures this.

There is no excuse or reason for a wired network infrastructure to be installed in new builds.

For consumers looking to cut costs, consider, that given the relatively inexpensive cost of cabling, the wired infrastructure will be the least expensive technology system in a home.

As a general rule, it a device is fixed, and can be wired; wire it into a wired network.

 

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Be aware of digital-analogues

When presenting and discussing smart homes, I often talk about pseudo-smart homes – smart homes that are not actually smart. Most ‘smart homes’ are really electronic homes or connected homes.

Most homes have multiple standalone electronic systems (e.g. lighting control, security, access control, heating and cooling, music, television, data network etc.) that have varying levels of control, connectivity and integration with each other.

Modern homes implement are range of user interfaces, typically electronic switches, remote controls, touchscreens, mobile applications, and perhaps voice control. These user interfaces are mostly what I describe as ‘digital-analogue‘ user interfaces – analogue control that has been replaced by digital control.

Unless a digital-analogue user interfaces provide a solution to an identified problem, they will have little benefit in the design of a smart home, other than providing short term convenience.

Analogue control

Think of a traditional electric light switch – a switch that has a basic on or off state. Now think of a traditional dimmer light switch – a switch that has a rotary dimming pot next to it. The traditional switch is hard-wired to a lighting circuit, and doesn’t provide much flexibility.

Analogue user interfaces are very simple and easy to use, but can become very cumbersome and unsightful when controlling multiple inputs or devices. This is where electronic systems provide many advantages. Traditional analogue interfaces such as light switches, can be replaced with digital interfaces.

Digital control

Typical electronic light switches have push buttons – press a button once to turn on, press it again to turn off. An electronic dimming system operates similarly but with the addition of dimming – press and hold the button to ramp up (make brighter), press and hold the button again to dim (make less bright).

Digital control can provide a higher level of convenience if functionality and usability is carefully considered, but they are not necessarily smart or intelligent. Many electronic control systems merely replicate analogue functionality by providing a digital interface.

Often, electronic control systems with their digital user interfaces (e.g. electronic switches, touch screens, mobile apps voice control etc.), provide a new level of complexity that can be counter intuitive, more difficult to use, and much more costly.

Better control

Homes needs to be designed and built with functionality and usability as a primary consideration. Electronic systems need to be integrated with the form and function of the building, rather than as an afterthought.

Control systems need to consider the applications of a space, and provide user interfaces that provide an optimal user experience that is simple and intuitive. This however, is easier said than done, but can be achieved with the right process.

Be aware of digital-analogue user interfaces – they may not be very smart, and may not be required.

 

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How I stopped misplacing things, with Tile

I used to regularly misplace things – specifically my keys and wallet. I came across Tile about year ago, and have not misplaced my keys or wallet since.

Tile have a range of Bluetooth tracker devices that when paired with the Tile app, makes it easier to find things. I use the Tile Mate on my keyring, and the Tile Slim in my wallet.

In the past, I would stress out having misplaced my keys or wallet, that were ultimately located in a jacket pocket, my bag, down the side of the couch, or under a car seat.

With Tile, I can simply open the app to see when and where the last place my phone and Tile were paired together – my phone, keys, and wallet are generally in the same location with me.

If my misplaced item is still within bluetooth range, the app will tell me its proximity, and I can make them play a sound to audibly locate it.

Check out Tile for that extra piece of mind to help you locate your stuff.

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A smarter bathroom

In this series of articles, I discuss and review how rooms and areas of a home can benefit from currently available technologies that are key elements of a smart home.

 

Your sanctuary

It is well known that bathrooms and ensuites are one of the most renovated rooms of a home. These spaces are the heart of the home and greatly enhance lifestyles. Realtors will often advise that a quality bathroom will provide one of the best returns on investment when selling.

With busy lives, homeowners and residents value opportunities for relaxation and recreation. Time spent in the bathroom should be pleasurable rather than stressful. It’s great to start day with positive experiences.

Of all the rooms and spaces within a home, the bathroom is possibly one of the most functionally demanding, and is mostly underrated and overlooked for technology.

Smart lighting

Lighting and lighting control systems can be very functional allowing us to have the best light, whenever, wherever, and however we want. With bathroom applications being so personal, so too can the lighting.

The right type of light needs to illuminate the space for the required application. For detailed tasks of applying make-up, hair, and shaving in front of a mirror, light needs to be even and indirect, without glare or casting shadows. Similarly, for the application of dressing, lighting can be adjusted to provide the most flattering light for the right time of the day or night.

With the lighting application in mind, careful consideration needs to be provided to ensure the appropriate light fixture, with the best type of lumenaire, producing the best quality of light is specified and installed in the right location.

Human centric lighting systems use special light fittings that can change colour – from warm to cool white, optimising light to maximise the intended task for specific times of the day and night. Based on personal preferences and requirements, makeup can be applied to suit a specific environment. Lighting can be automatically or manually changed to suit the intended application.

For general use, ambient lighting should be mostly automatic by using motion and light level sensors to automatically switch lights on and off, and dim when required – automated lighting in a bathroom is extremely useful when implemented correctly. Personalised task lighting will manually override automated functionality when and how it is required.

Functionality can be provided for specific applications – a midnight bathroom visit can be more effectively illuminated, providing just the right type and amount of light without disturbing your night vision, and partner.

 


Photos sourced from the internet

 

Smart fittings

A benefit of a smart home is the ability to automate regular routines. Water taps can be electronically controlled to personalise water temperature and water pressure with a press of a button to provide the perfect shower every time.

Exhaust and extraction fans can be integrated with the toilet, to extract odours directly from the toilet bowl rather than filling the room. Similar extraction fans can automatically remove steam when bath and shower hot water taps are run.

Motorised shades and blinds can raise and lower for privacy at the press of a button, or be automated to counter exterior glare from direct sunlight. Electronic switchable glass can magically change from clear to opaque to provide the ultimate level of privacy for shower screens, partition walls and windows.

Heating, including floor heating, can be automated to warm up the bathroom to a cozy temperature during the winter before you step foot into the room, and switch off when you exit the room. Heated towel rails and towel warming drawers can be automated to provide the perfect towel.

Smart power

Devices such as hair curlers and hair straighteners that plug into power outlets can be automatically switched off after being used, to provide peace of mind that they are actually turned off when you leave home.

Info-tainment

Splashproof televisions provide functional entertainment. There are even special television displays that are mirrors – when switched off are indistinguishable from a normal mirror, but when switched on, an image magically appears from behind the mirror. Displays can also provide notification and alerts of news, weather, stocks etc.

Music and radio keeps you up-to-date with the latest news and tunes, switching to your favourite program when you enter the room to shower, and fades out when you leave.

A smarter bathroom

The bathroom should not only look beautiful but also needs to be functional for each person that uses it. Bathroom technologies don’t need to be extravagant, and should meet the needs and requirements of the user. Technology can help to seamlessly transform your sanctuary to provide a lifestyle changing user experience.

For the ultimate bathroom experience, let me show you how.

Other articles in this series: 
Smarter front door

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Connected home vs Smart home

 

The terms Connected Home and Smart Home are often confused as being the same thing to describe a home with electronics and technology. However, they are very different – the connected home vs the smart home.

Connected home

Connect (verb): (with object) Join together so as to provide access and communication. – Oxford Dictionary

A connected home integrates multiple electronic and technology systems (e.g. lighting control, security, access control, distributed audio, distributed video, heating and cooling etc.) that are connected by a wired and wireless infrastructure, to themselves, and to the internet.

Connected home systems consist of a range of products relevant to that particular system (e.g. Lighting control system – dimmers, relays, switches, sensors etc. Security system – alarm panel, keypads, motion detectors, siren etc.).

Products and systems are connected to each other by way of a hub or gateway to provide a level of automation – Home automation.

Automation (noun): The use or introduction of automatic equipment in a manufacturing or other process or facility. – Oxford Dictionary

Automatic (adjective) 1: (of a device or process) working by itself with little or no direct human control. 2: done or occurring spontaneously, without conscious thought or attention. – Oxford Dictionary

The automation component of a connected home manages all of the electronic systems and consolidates individual functionality with unified user interfaces such as  touch screens, remote controls, voice control and mobile device applications.

Connected systems are programmed to automate functions as defined scenes to provide better convenience of everyday routines. Home automation scenes might include Welcome, Goodbye, Goodnight, Good morning, and Away scenes. Typical functionality of a Welcome scene might be: When I arrive home after work, turn on the porch, entry, hall and kitchen lights, and turn on the ducted heating.

A connected home can provide fantastic convenience and automation, but by definition is not necessarily smart.

Smart home

Smart or Intelligent (adjective): (of a device or building) Able to vary its state or action in response to varying situations and past experience. – Oxford Dictionary

A smart home builds upon foundation systems and technologies of a connected home to provide a more functional, more intuitive, and more simple solution. User experience is the most considered element of a smart home.

As a progression from a connected home with manual electronic control, a smart home can also respond to various inputs such as time, occupancy, presence, ambient light, temperature, weather etc.

In a smart home, technology systems are fully integrated with the architectural form and function of the home, rather than as an add-on. Foundation technology systems (e.g. power, solar, battery storage, lighting) that are integral for a smart home are considered very early in the architectural design process to allow other systems to build upon.

Many smart home concepts and strategies may not even be regarded as typical electronic systems: Ambient, task and feature lighting are designed to blend seamlessly into the architectural form of the home to provide the right type of illumination where, when and how it is needed. A heating and cooling system is designed to compliment passive solar building design to collect, store, and distribute solar energy in the form of heat in the winter and reject solar heat in the summer. They are many other passive concepts and strategies that make a home smart.

Although similar in some ways, a connected home and smart home are very different – A connected home provides an improved level of convenience, whereas a smart home provides the ultimate user experience.

For the homeowner, it is important to understand what a home of today and the future is capable of.

For the ultimate smart home experience, let me show you how.

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Human centric lighting – A better light

Natural light changes colour throughout the day – from a morning sunrise glow, to a bright midday sun, to a rich warm sunset. We have the technology to change the colour of artificial light in our homes – Human centric lighting*.

Clockwise

The human biological clock is closely tied to the day/night cycle of the Earth – circadian rhythm, and is pivotable for our body’s release of various hormones including melatonin that regulates sleep, and cortisol for healing. We know that light has a significant influence on the human biological clock and our health.

As much as technology can benefit us, it can disrupt our natural biological clock. We have too little of the right type of light during the day, and too much of the wrong type of light at night. Exposure to televisions, LED lights, computer screens, and mobile devices that emit blue (cool) light at night can disrupt our biological clock, delaying the natural sleep pattern.

Colour changers

Currently, lights are specified to be a particular colour temperature – typically warm white, or cool white. As a general rule, warm light is more suitable for a home because it is best for the worst case scenario. Up until now we have had limited control of light – we switch on/off, and dim.

LED lights are now available that can reproduce a range of colour temperatures (tuneable white light), and even the whole colour spectrum. Together with a compatible lighting control system we can automatically regulate light to achieve specific objectives.

With a human centric lighting system, artificial light can automatically mimic natural light. As natural light changes throughout the day and night, so too can the colour and intensity of artificial light – re-aligning our circadian rhythm to our biological clock.

A human centric lighting system can also manipulate artificial light. When we require higher levels of concentration and alertness, we can adjust the colour temperature to provide a cool light. When we want to relax or provide a more calm environment, we can adjust the colour temperature to provide a more warm light.

A better light

Lighting and control technologies have evolved to provide better user experiences. With careful consideration and expert consultation, light can be more organic and integrate better in our smart homes to provide greater levels of comfort.

For the ultimate lighting experience, let me show you how.

*Human centric lighting is also known by other names such as circadian lighting, bio-rhythmic lighting, tuneable lighting etc.

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A smarter front door

In this series of articles, I will discuss and review how rooms and areas of a home can benefit from currently available technologies that are key elements of a smart home.

Making an entrance

The front door is the main point of entry into a home. It can be greatly improved with technology to provide better convenience, and improve the overall usability of a home.

For decades, we have become familiar with the concept of central locking in cars, that is now considered a standard feature, even for entry level vehicles.

A smart front door of today can integrate a number of currently available products, systems and technologies:

Smart lighting

Light is one of the most effective deterrents to keep unwanted criminals from your home, or to at least interrupt them.

A smart lighting system utilises motion and light level sensors to automatically switch on and off lights, and other devices (e.g. motorised shades, heating and cooling).

Sensors can also trigger predefined scenes (e.g. Welcome, Goodbye, Gone away, etc.) based on personal preferences and predetermined house rules, to automate regular tasks and routines.

Smart lock

Technology is effectively replacing analog interfaces such as the traditional lock and key to provide a higher level of convenience, and improve the overall usability of the home.

The user interface of a smart door is typically keyless, and may include a numeric code keypad, RFID reader (e.g. smart phone, touch card or fob) or biometric reader (e.g. finger print or retina scanner). Keyless access systems eliminate the fumbling for a manual key, that can be retained as a backup.

Think of smart locks and the encompassing home access control system in a similar way that a central locking system operates for a car. This functionality can be applied to all entry doors in a similar way, but with more intelligence.

Smart door bell

A smart doorbell integrates a video camera, audio microphone and speaker to provide an improved way of answering the door, monitoring the door and interacting with guests.

Video, audio and notifications can be viewed and received on your smart phone upon the door bell sensing motion or answering a guest’s bell press – you don’t even need to be at home.

Smart video cameras

Video cameras are an excellent deterrent to criminals with the latest cameras being able record very high resolution for easy identification.

Smart video cameras record video to a local storage device or to a subscribed cloud-based service when motion or sound is detected.

Similar to a smart door bell, video, audio and notifications can be viewed and received on your smart phone, allowing you to easily monitor your home.

A smarter door

Many smart home owners provide feedback of the smart front door being one of the most convenient and most valued features of a smart home. As with all smart home systems, smart doors need to be integrated into the design of the home to avoid fragmentation of form and function, and to provide the best user experience.

For the ultimate front door and entry experience, let me show you how.

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Game changer – Tesla Model 3

Tesla will deliver it’s much anticipated Model 3 off the assembly line to customers on 28 July 2017.

The Tesla Model 3 is a game-changer. It is the first mass-market electric car, that will greatly influence how and what car we buy in the future. The Model 3 may be the final nail in the coffin for the petrol car industry. Many car owners, will never buy a petrol car again.

Think about this: for US$35k or A$45k (Americans also receive an approximate US$8k government subsidy, making it US$27k), you get a brand new, cutting-edge technology car that will never require a fill up at a petrol bowser, require less servicing, and future manufacturer updates will only improve the car, with realistic possibilities of driverless functionality etc.

The fuel savings alone makes the Tesla Model 3 almost pay for itself. It’s only a matter of time before consumers will purchase an electric car on a payment plan, similarly to how they currently buy a mobile phone.

The bigger picture is that technology industries are quickly solving the energy production and storage problem. Electricity production is soon to be almost free as we move towards cheaper outlays for individual, private solar capture and storage. The way we produce and consume electricity is soon to be changed forever, for the better.

With more than 400k US preorders for the Model 3, Tesla can’t make enough Model 3 cars quick enough, even with plans to increase production.

Unfortunately, we won’t see a right-hand drive Tesla Model 3 on Australian roads until late 2018.

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A problem with smart homes

A problem with most smart homes or intelligent homes is that they are mostly neither smart or intelligent.

A searched and returned definition of smart or intelligent, in regards to a home or building goes something like this:

“Able to vary its state or action in response to varying situations and past experience.” – Oxford Dictionary

Most so called ‘smart’ homes rarely vary their state in response to varying situations, if at all.

As it is, most ‘smart’ homes are really connected homes with electronic products and systems perhaps connected to the internet, and possibly connected to each other to provide a level of home automation.

Although convenient, connected homes with their automation systems can be overburdened with superfluous user interfaces – wall switches, touch screens, mobile apps, and even voice control devices that electronically turn on lights or raise and lower blinds etc.

The functionality provided by these devices should not be confused as being smart or intelligent, neither should the scripted functionally of a ‘welcome’ or ‘goodbye’ (or similar) scene that turns multiple lights and devices on or off.

Many connected home user interfaces have little consideration for the user experience, and are electronic versions of an analogue interface – digital analogues.

In a true smart home, technology systems are fully integrated with the form and function of the home. The total user experience is considered during the architectural design process, not after it.

Traditional manual controls, and even so called ‘smart’ controls are minimised, if not removed, to be automated based on needs, presence, state of the home, and conditions of the outside world.

Don’t let your new home be just another connected home when it should be a smart home.

 

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Why I like Apple HomePod

Apple is back into the home speaker market (some might remember the iPod HiFi from 2006), at a time when when others have become more established.

This week, Apple announced HomePod to reinvent home music. In addition to providing great sound, expanded AirPlay 2 functionality, and secure voice control, there’s one single reason why I like HomePod – usability.

Contemporary music listening enthusiasts will be familiar with the usual products (e.g. Sonos, HEOS etc.) that integrate to your home network, and connect with streaming services (e.g. Apple Music, Spotify etc.).

As familiar as we have become with the app interfaces of these products and services, users have to exit from their phone’s native music app (e.g. Apple Music) and open a third-party home music system app (e.g. Sonos). Although this is relatively easy, it requires an additional third-party step to enjoy music.

With Apple HomePod, the music listening experience is now complete. Users will simply use Apple Music via the native app or by Siri voice control, to enjoy music however and wherever they want.

For the smart home, Apple HomeHub becomes an integral component of Apple Home to integrate an already mature range of compatible smart home products and systems.

Even more, the HomePod will provide a higher level of intelligence for your smart home. Siri will have improved learning capabilities, opening a realm of future benefits to enhance your lifestyle.

Enjoying music and controlling technology in the home is about to become more usable, more intuitive, and more simple.