Up
until recently, integrators and end users had no choice but to use a dedicated
and often proprietary touch panel to control their home automation or control
system if they desired a comprehensive control interface. However, since the
release of the first iPhone, iPad, and android devices, we have seen a clear
trend that those mobile devices are used as the main control interface for
control and automation systems.
This
in turn, has started one of the great debates - can using tablets and smart
phones replace expensive proprietary devices and bring home automation to the
masses? Here, let’s check what advantages consumer based devices have to be a
great replacement for proprietary devices.
Cost
The
most obvious advantage is the cost of a smart phone or tablet compared to a
proprietary control device. A typical dedicated touch screen could cost well
over $2,000, while an iPad which is of similar size and capabilities to common
touch panels will cost under $500. When Android devices are brought into the
mix, the cost becomes even lower. When dealing with an installation that
requires multiple touch devices, this price difference becomes a huge
difference in the potential cost of the job.
Availability
These
consumer devices are readily available from a number of different sources
without the need for special accreditations or being locked into any single
distributor. This means that when a device is broken, becomes faulty or needs
to be replaced for any reason, it is much cheaper and more easily replaced than
its proprietary counterparts.
Device
Familiarity
The
penetration of smart phone has been beyond 50% around the world and continues
getting larger. Consumers will more than likely already be familiar with iOS or
Android devices. This will ultimately mean that they are conditioned to the
look and operation of these devices.
Device
Processing Power
Most
proprietary devices have in built processors; however the speed and power of
these processors is severely lacking when compared with iOS and Android
devices. They also have less memory and only small amounts of storage space for
GUI files. This results in special programming being required to work around
the limitations of the touch panels, while an iOS device can take almost
anything an integrator can throw at it.
Additional
Features
Tablets
and smart phones have additional features that can be taken advantage of in
home automation systems. The GPS can be used to implement interesting location
based features, and the accelerometer and gyro sensors can also be put to
imaginative use to allow for display rotation and other specific actions based
on user movement. Multi touch is another feature that is not widely included in
proprietary devices - this is an extremely powerful feature that allows us to
improve human-device interaction through using a different number of fingers to
interact with the display.
Existing
Infrastructure
In
many circumstances, the customer will already have a wireless network set up in
the house for file and internet sharing. Because devices such as the iPad
utilise standard protocols such as Wi-Fi, in most cases this network can be
utilized to connect the mobile devices that will control the systems in the
premises. This means there is no expensive special cabling required for network
connectivity. No additional equipment is required to implement an iPad, iPhone
or Android device into the system.
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