Image used with permission by copyright holderIf you have a connected home featuring tons of smart devices, you probably also have a platform like the Amazon Echo, Google Home, or Samsung SmartThings to help you control all the units from one location. Mozilla, the creator of Firefox, has come up with a platform called Project Things that claims to let you control all those smart home devices from the web, by utilizing a Raspberry Pi to set up the network. Mozilla believes this self-created platform will give users more control and customization, so people don’t have to be tied to any one preset platform, such as the Amazon Echo.
With Project Things, users can build a gateway connecting their smart home products directly to the internet, with each unit then receiving its own URL. Users can then control these products using the web interface or via voice controls, although the latter is still in the experimental stage. Project Things lets you set up If This Then That commands to determine how your devices should interact, and you can even upload floor plans that show where the devices are located in your home.
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As of now, Project Things only supports a small selection of smart home devices. A recent release just added the ability to support light dimmers and smart plugs, and Mozilla anticipates more add-ons to come in future releases.
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Project Things is still considered a work in progress. “Please note that this is experimental pre-release software and at this prototype stage is not ready for production use. It is intended as an early preview for hackers, makers, and web developers to get their hands on with the Web of Things,” writes the company on its website.
If you’re interested in getting started with Project Things, Mozilla has guidelines on how to set up a network with the help of Raspberry Pi 3, which has built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth support capabilities. Not familiar with Raspberry Pi? Another developer board such as an Arduino can suffice, and according to Mozilla, users also have the option to use a laptop or desktop computer. However, the company notes that Raspberry Pi 3 will “currently provide the best experience.
In late September, Google announced a new feature for Google TV called the Home Panel that would make it easier to control all of your (compatible) smart home devices from a single location. The feature first appeared on the Google TV Streamer and then later on Chromecast, but it has now rolled out to Google TVs from other companies including Hisense, TCL, and others.
The Home Panel offers a lot of utility. It shows your lights' current brightness level, the volume level of speakers, and even live streams from security cameras. The demo video Google has on its blog shows that the user can even adjust the thermostat. All of this is done through the remote, so you don't even have to get up off the couch.
Ring’s new Smart Video Search uses AI to quickly scour your motion history
Ring has revealed a new AI-powered feature called Smart Video Search that’s currently being tested in public beta. The goal is to make it easier than ever to find specific moments in your video history by allowing you to enter a text description of an event, which will then be used to scour your motion events for a clip that matches your input.
Smart Video Search uses a combination of Ring AI and Visual Language Modeling (VLM) to quickly search your video history based on a text description. For example, if you search for “red bicycle in the driveway,” your Ring app will automatically pull up any clips that feature -- you guessed it -- a red bike in your driveway.
Prepare for Halloween with these smart home gadgets
It’s officially spooky season, and that means Halloween is right around the corner. And if you’re hoping to have the most haunted house on the block, it’s worth looking at how today’s best smart home devices can help you achieve your goal. Whether you’re throwing a costume party, spending the night curled up with a scary movie, or expecting to have hundreds of trick-or-treaters lining up at your door, there’s a good chance upgrading your smart gadgets can make the spooky season all the more exciting.
Here’s a look at how video doorbells, smart lights, and other smart devices can help you celebrate Halloween.
Update your video doorbell with a terrifying chime
