Bring PC-based intelligence and automation to your home with this complete guide. It's cheap and easy to now have the 'Jetsons' house.
The ‘smart home’ is a regular feature in science fiction, but our real-life dwellings remain decidedly dumb. However, intelligent accommodation isn’t as distant as you might think. With a few relatively inexpensive peripherals and the help of a PC, you can automate numerous aspects of your home, help to keep the premises secure, and massively improve your enjoyment of your digital media collection.
The options for digitally enhancing your domicile are virtually endless. Everything from simple remote light switching to media streaming and video surveillance is possible. Not everything will require a fully fledged PC at its centre, but most functions are dramatically enhanced by having one.
Security is something else you can readily enhance with a few computer peripherals, including video surveillance or sensor-activated events. You could also use your surveillance to keep tabs on the kids when you’re working elsewhere in the house.
This feature will look at some of these options, going into detail to demonstrate how a system called HomeHub can give you control over your home appliances from your PC. We’ll also look at the PC-based CCTV system, which has become one of the most popular aspects of home automation.
So, if you’ve considered putting your PC at the centre of your home appliances, but have never taken the time to look at the various options open to you, read on.