Indholdsfortegnelse for July - August 2019 i Residential Tech Today

When CEDIA’s Senior Director of Education Samantha Ventura began mapping the educational offerings for CEDIA Expo 2019 in Denver, she asked her team a question: “How would somebody coming to Expo this year want to spend their money?” The answer was to build courses for a business owner looking for leadership-based education, as well as project management or sales classes that could really take their skillsets to the next level. We also asked ourselves: “If that business owner was to bring technicians along, what would he or she want those people to learn?” Ventura answered, “We’ve put in a new-hire track – a specific class list for those folks [new to the industry] – as well as more advanced technical classes that would make sense for somebody to come and…

Large homes traditionally require full-time staff to perform maintenance and assist the owners with daily tasks, but a newly renovated 10,000-square-foot residence in Medina, MN, shows that nearly every function of modern home life can now be controlled and automated through a professionally installed home control system. According to home electronics integrator J. Becher & Assoc., the system allows the owners to quickly and easily manage everything from lighting to heating to multi-room audio, all from the ELAN Home Control interface. When your dream home has more than 100 light switches, 12 TVs, and 48 zones of audio, the only way to effectively manage it all is with a full home control system. It would be incredibly stressful to try running a home that large without modern technology or full-time…

For most homeowners, any type of large-scale home-improvement project can be a challenging and downright stressful task. Regardless of whether it is a backyard landscape project or outfitting a home with the latest technology, with so many contractors to choose from and product choices to make, it’s hard to know what steps to take. Fortunately, when it comes to residential technology, independent consultant firms can be of great help to both homeowners and custom integration companies that provide home tech designs and installation. For some homeowners, hiring a tech consultant is a way to keep the design and installation teams separate, just like one would hire an architect to design their home and a builder to construct it. Sometimes consumers want an “independent voice” to assist with making the right…

Human-centric lighting (HCL) is gaining popularity in the home for its ability not only to set the mood and bring out the best qualities of a space but to emulate natural daylight patterns to help affect physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing. Smart homes aren’t the only places that benefit from this approach to lighting, however. HCL technology is showing up in all spaces where humans spend their time, including commercial meeting spaces. That’s because it can create a better lit environment for the tasks at hand and reset our circadian rhythms (body clocks) to match how we live and what we want to accomplish throughout the day. Control Lighting Based on the Activity HCL systems combine intelligent lighting control with LED lamps and fixtures that have the ability to change…

Natural disasters and small-scale personal emergencies are equal-opportunity destroyers. Tornadoes and hurricanes, for example, don’t care who or what you are as long as you’re in their path of mayhem and misery. Nor does a cellphone battery that dies as you’re making a life-saving 911 call. Here’s more cheerful information regarding disasters: the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would like you to know that, “After an emergency, you may need to survive on your own for several days. Being prepared means having your own food, water, and other supplies to last for at least 72 hours.” (Oh, joy…) Big catastrophes and local emergencies typically happen with little-to-no warning. That’s why the DHS, FEMA, Red Cross, and just about every other organization that deals with such situations recommend putting together…

“Personally, I find air travel to be far too expensive. So, when I need to leave the house, I’ll generally ask one of my friends with Amazon Prime to order a package from me. After properly packaging myself, within two business days I’m at their house and ready to hit the town.” – Jeff Bezos, Amazon “People tend to take my social media way too seriously. For example, I once joked that the newest Tesla model would run purely on gravy. That’s preposterous. Standard country gravy doesn’t have the consistency to properly fuel a vehicle such as the Tesla. Hollandaise might work though.” – Elon Musk, Tesla “In order to access this quote, you will need to upgrade your current mobile device to an iPhone XR, establish a strong Wi-Fi…

“Getting old sucks,” my mother muttered as we wheeled her up the driveway after her hip-replacement surgery. Aging can be frustrating. Changes in mobility, temporary disabilities, and the threat of a fall are sometimes all it takes to shift from independence to assisted living. As smart home technology catches up to the needs of older consumers, more people are choosing to “age in place.” Voice activation, sensor-based monitoring, and smartphone control systems are making it easier for elderly consumers to incorporate life-saving technology into their homes. The creators of the abode iota Smart Home Security System saw an opportunity and developed an approachable, easy-to-install monitoring system to help older clients stay in their homes. CEO of abode Chris Carney even installed the iota in his father’s condo. Carney explained why…

Remember being in class and hearing someone’s squeaky shoe during a test? Or perhaps you had a ballpoint pen “clicker” sit a little too close to you – drawing your attention to his thumb and color of the ink, all while you imagined ripping the pen out of his hand. While we can’t always eliminate “people” sounds, we can design our smart home audio systems in preparation for them, with the goal of minimizing or eliminating them. In design and product selection, we also have the option to choose products that operate in silence (or near silence), versus those that result in hums, beeps, clicks, and the relentless sound of grinding motors. As someone who is sensitive to light and sound, I’ve always struggled in loud, chaotic environments, but here’s…

What do you get when a home builder, an electrical company, and a home automation manufacturer all come together with a focus on providing the best customer experience? This year at the International Builder Show (IBS) in Las Vegas, I visited with Jason Collman, VP of sales for Clare Controls, to learn more about how Clare was working with builders to help make it easier for them to provide their new home customers with the latest technology. Collman shared several success stories with builders throughout the country and suggested that I don’t just take his word for it, but that I visit with one of his builder partners, M/I Homes, which is going to be putting Clare in around 3,000 homes around the country this year. So, I went to…

Start a conversation about AR, or augmented reality, and most people’s brains will likely head in the direction of Pokémon Go or other games that cross the line between the real world and the digital. Hang with an even hipper crowd, and you might hear talk of Childish Gambino’s new mind-bending interactive musical experience, Pharo AR. One company, though – Acoustic Masterminds Inc., the brainchild of founder and CEO Caleb Madsen – is using AR for something a lot more functional, way more educational, and infinitely more useful. But to me, it’s no less fun. Rather than letting you chase Pokémon around your neighborhood, the company’s AcoustiTools app puts professional-caliber sound analysis and diagnostic tools right in the palm of your hands, in a way that lets you see, and…

AUGUST 5-7 CEDIA Basic Residential Boot Camp Indianapolis, IN SEPTEMBER 10-14 CEDIA Expo Denver, CO 8-10 CEDIA Home Theater Boot Camp Indianapolis, IN OCTOBER 1,3 NY/NJ Technology & Business Summit Long Island, NY & Newark, NJ 15 Southeast Technology & Business Summit Atlanta, GA 14-16 Azione Unlimited Fall Conference Seattle, WA 22-24 HTSA 2019 Fall Conference Dallas, TX…

When security and the smart home cross paths in conversation, cybersecurity is generally the topic that comes to mind. However, while keeping your IoT devices locked down is important, the physical security of your home and possessions is vital. Luckily, with smart home security devices such as connected cameras and smart alarms, it’s more convenient than ever to secure your abode. Let’s dive into the statistics that reflect the growth of smart home security tech and, as a likely cause-and-effect result, the decreasing burglary rates we’ve seen in recent years. 3/ 5 in the U.S. say security is the primary benefit of the smart home (2015 Lowe’s Smart Home Survey) FBI data says that Property Crime (Burglary, theft, car theft) has dropped % 50 between 1993 and 2017 pewresearch.org Day…

Our homes are becoming more connected with every year. The average home is predicted to have 50 connected devices by 2020. With more connectivity comes increased complexity. The average homeowner will need more support to manage their home, and it can’t be all via call centers. A new brand, called Sweepr, is poised to serve as a behind-the-scenes monitoring service to maintain all connected devices automatically. Using machine learning and emotional intelligence, Sweepr creates multiple personas for users based on their knowledge and acts as the technical concierge for the home, looking after seen and unseen incidents on behalf of the homeowner. It maintains an up-to-date store of all device-related content to help homeowners with any questions they might have about how a device works, why it has stopped working,…

It’s somewhat easy to look at the new Control4 Smart Home OS 3 and summarize it as a largely cosmetic overhaul – at least at first glance. The bold new look is, after all, the first thing that catches your eye. For the first time since this advanced home control and automation platform hit the market a decade-and-a-half ago, its user interface looks truly modern – forward-thinking, even. Honestly, if this sort of cosmetic coat of paint was the beginning and end of Smart Home OS 3, it would be a worthwhile (and long-needed) redesign for Control4. But this fresh new look and sexy new layout is literally just the surface of what turns out to be a pretty massive re-jiggering of how Control4 works – or at least of…

When a BlackWire Designs box arrives, the company’s iconic packing tape is a sign of good things to come for custom integration professionals. That’s because shipped alongside the equipment there are always snacks – perhaps some beef jerky, Skittles, or even some fresh coffee beans. Our company’s founder, Kevin Luther, who worked previously as a technology integrator, came up with the snack pack idea after missing multiple meals on a job while climbing around in hot attics. Hunger has always been part of the professional AV installer’s life and the snacks are there to help take the edge off. BlackWire Designs understands, however, that the way to a customer’s heart isn’t just through the stomach, but through a shared experience. Several members of the BlackWire team have an integration background,…

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing our world at a dizzying pace, promising to improve lives and make us all better, faster, and stronger (or unemployed!). I spend a considerable amount of time studying where AI might impact the smart home, particularly in the arena of remote monitoring. While this category is still in its infancy, it promises to affect three key areas in the coming years. We can call them “improving the signal-to-noise ratio,” “self-healing,” and “moving from artificial intelligence to intelligence assistance (IA).” Improving Signal-to-Noise Ratio Depending on who you ask, remote monitoring notifications from services like Domotz, BakPak, and OvrC are anywhere from one-to-10-percent effective. That’s like saying your car will only start three to 30 days out of each year. Professional technology integrators, like myself, who are…

Since 1999, The Premier Group has been servicing homeowners in Indianapolis, IN, and surrounding areas with technology solutions and installation services for categories including audio, video, lighting, electrical, and more. Over the past 20 years, however, the integration business has changed dramatically. Where audio/video solutions used to dominate Premier’s business, today categories such as networking, security, and automation are growing at an exceptional rate. Unlike a simple AV system, Premier found it increasingly difficult to explain to customers the vast possibilities of the smart home. Having been at the forefront of home automation technology and one of Control4’s first authorized dealers, Premier understood the importance of demonstrating to homeowners how nearly all of their technology at home can work together seamlessly and be managed and controlled through a single system.…