Domotica applications

Please consider the following situations and give your opinion. I thank you in advance.

Situation 1:  Remote printing. What do you think of the possibility to transfer your attachments (from mails you can consult on your mobile) to the nearest printing facility? For example, you are on a plane when you receive the e-mail and you want you to use the printer in the airport. 

Situation 2: Remote storage. Imagine your mobile has the facility to take photos/record movies with limited capacity. You find yourself in a situation where you have to take more photos/record movies, than your mobile can handle. In this case you would be able to transfer the photos/movies to your computer or other remote server, in order to have space available on you mobile. 

Situation 3: Domestic applications. Suppose that in the (near) future, our homes are regulated by a home system. This could regulate our light, fridge, alarm, oven, … Would you be interested in setting the system from a distance using your mobile? For example, switch on the lights, set off the alarm to allow a friend to enter, …


Our technology would make those applications possible.

-    What do you think about these features?
-    Would you be interested in them?
-    If so, how much would you be willing to pay?


We thank you for your cooperation.

HSALEH
Wednesday, March 17, 2004

Nothing new.

1. already available.
2. already available (via infra red or bluetooth)
3. already available (late 90s someone had something like this set up over tcp/ip, possibly via http - WAP or other mobile version might already exist)

Tapiwa
Wednesday, March 17, 2004

Why the hell would anyone want to do this stuff?
Switch on the lights? I turn them off when I leave and on when I get home.  What is so wrong with that?  There are already cheap and easy to use timers available, but hardly anyone bothers.  So why would they bother with a more complex solution?

Regulate the fridge?  Why?  How often do you think people screw around with the fridge now? Pretty close to never, so why would they want to do it remotely?

Turn off the alarm to allow a friend to enter?  How often do you need to do that?  Most people would just tell the friend the code to use and if they didn't trust them with the code, they wouldn't want to let them in the house remotely anyway.

All this 'automated' house crap is a solution in search of a problem.  No one is every going to pay squat for it.

whatever
Wednesday, March 17, 2004

I think it would be cool to be able to log onto a web page and adjust my fridge temperature.  Of course I'd never pay money to be able to do it.

Hmmmm.  Come to think of it, if someone stole my password they could log on and make all my food spoil.

Never mind.

Kyralessa
Wednesday, March 17, 2004

Doesn't X10 stuff do all this?

And what's Domotica?

Joel Spolsky
Fog Creek Software
Wednesday, March 17, 2004

Domotica is the going name for software and appliances you can use to control or monitor your house.

Erik
Wednesday, March 17, 2004

The term was taken from the Latin domus, which means house. But you knew that already, I am sure.

Erik
Wednesday, March 17, 2004

Circuit Cellar is one of the best sources for tech info on home automation.  Her'es an example, an old article about controlling your home systems from any touch-tone phone:

http://www.circuitcellar.com/library/print/hcs-pdf/21Ciarcia.pdf

Ward
Wednesday, March 17, 2004

Controling appliances etc from the puter only interests me as a potential DIY project. Hooking some relays to the serialport on my server and writing a app to access it (guess that how youd do it) sounds exactly like the kind of project Id enjoy if I had the time.

Eric Debois
Wednesday, March 17, 2004

now if I came home from work and my house knew what I wanted for dinner and had it ready....that would be cool....

apw
Wednesday, March 17, 2004

i'd like to see a wi-fi enabled memory card for my digital camera...that way i can snap away and have the photos get stored on my ipaq as I shoot.

apw
Wednesday, March 17, 2004

Please pay to do your market research.

Doug Withau
Wednesday, March 17, 2004

APW,

why does the memory card need to be wi-fi enabled?
Why not the camera itself? Because that is what is making and managing the pictures, isn't it? Memory cards should concentrate on storing, don't they?
Or are you thinking of other benefits?

Erik
Thursday, March 18, 2004

Erik,

So I don't have to buy a new camera  :)

apw
Thursday, March 18, 2004

**lets kill this thread :-)**

The only piece of software I need for controlling the home settings via mobile phone, and ensuring that choice dinner is ready when I get home is WIFE 1.0

Tapiwa
Thursday, March 18, 2004

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