Anyone remember the Clapper (Clap On, Clap Off!) of the late ’80′s? It was one of the first sound-activated light switch systems, and “high-tech” home automation in its day (and believe it or not, is still popular even now)–but we’ve come a long way since then, baby! Now we’ve advanced to the point where we can speak to our computers, just like Captain Kirk did in Star Trek, and they’ll follow our commands.
With some relatively inexpensive equipment (an old Optiplex computer, for instance and some X10 technology) and just a bit of time to set everything up, you have the ability to speak to your computer and give it commands using voice recognition, and it can not only turn lights or your TV on and off, but search the web for you, play music on your computer and more.
In this terrifc video from Ben Hawkins, he demonstrates state-of-the-art home automation technologies including voice recognition, macros, scheduling and remote control–and all pretty much DIY. Take a look and maybe you’ll be able to trade-in your Clapper for something more sophisticated–like the Star Trek Enterprise.
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