SUPER HOUSE Far from the home of the future, Melbourne, Australia’s Jonathan Oxer has built the maker home of today. Lights, curtains, fans, and more are wired to three switchboards with Arduino-compatible microcontrollers with built-in Ethernet, though manual switches still function. A Linux-based hub connects it all together and allows Oxer to input commands through his Android phone or an Android-based touchscreen inter- face, and even control a few things with gesture commands through a Kinect box. superhouse.tv —Craig Couden
PHONE HOME
Mi Casa Verde’s latest home
controller, Vera 3, is a Linux-based wi-fi router that works with
Z-Wave, Insteon, and X- 10 protocols. Connecting Z-Wave devices
works much like Bluetooth pairing,
and MiOS support puts it all on
your smartphone. Third-party
apps bring extra functionality,
like enabling cameras for remote
live streaming video, and open
APIs allow users to flex their
imagination and coding skills.
micasaverde.com —CC
SENSITIVE BUILDINGS
At NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program, students in Rob Faludi’s
“Sensitive Buildings” course were given
access to a 28-story apartment building
in Manhattan. Using XBee radio modules,
students created a variety of projects
utilizing both the building’s existing
systems and a set of XBee wireless
gateways. Projects included a mail chute
tracker, a projection that visualizes elevator use, an exercise monitoring system,
and a sensor network that measures
climate conditions and noise throughout
the building. makezine.com/go/faludi
—Michael Colombo
Joe Armao (Super House)
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