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How it started...

I can remember the first time I walked through Sears and saw thisnew system to control lights remotely. It was called X-10 and I wasprobably 12 years old. Over the years I have installed many of these

switches throughout the house to turn on lights and appliances from asmall console on my nightstand.

Eight years ago I was introduced to a product that turned my hobbyinto an obsession. That is Home Automated Livings HAL 2000. HAL isan operating system for your house. This software works with many"off-the-shelf" home automation products including all of those X-10devices I already had installed. HAL has many unique featureshowever, the most impressive is its ability to control all of thesedevices by voice. It does this by use of a very powerful (SpeakerIndependent) speech recognition engine designed by Lernout &Hauspie. "Speaker Independent" means you do not have to train it.Right out of the box it is able to accept your voice commands.

Whole House Control

In order to command HAL from different rooms in the house, I set up aOpen air microphone system. This consists of installing microphonesand speakers in 8 different locations throughout the house so thecomputer can hear you, and you can hear the computer. In order tocommand HAL you need to select a single phrase that will get HALsattention. I picked "Yo Superman!" as my attention phrase. Thisphrase was selected since it does not normally come up in generalconversation and it consists of two words. When you say, "YoSuperman" Hal Responds, "How may I help you?" From here HALlistens for a wide range of commands. When you are done addressingHAL you simply say, "Thank you, thats all, or goodbye" and HAL willgo back to listening only for his attention word. HAL's status screenactually shows your speech commands when your interacting with the

software.

Of course you dont need to install microphones and speakers in yourhome for voice control. HAL was designed so you can pick up anyphone in the house, press #, and then tell HAL what you want her todo. In fact, you also have 100% control over HAL when you are awayby calling your house from a telephone. For instance, I routinely call

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HAL from my cell phone to check email, voice mail messages or setthe temperature, all by simple voice commands.

I was surprised how easy it was to install the software and set up all ofthe devices. You simply name all of your devices like, "Master

Bedroom Lights" or "Reading Room Lamp" and associate the X-10house code and unit number. When you want to control these devicesyou simply say, "Turn on the reading room lamp", or "shut off themaster bedroom lights". You can actually schedule these devices byvoice. For example you can tell HAL, "Every Monday, Wednesday andFriday at 8 PM, turn on the driveway lights, for two hours." HAL willrespond by confirming your commands then automatically schedulethe events. Of course you can also say, "Turn on the living room lightfor 5 minutes" and HAL will do just that.

Update: Because X-10 technology is old and unreliable, over time Ireplaced most of my X-10 light switches with Insteon switches fromSmarthome. When I first started purchasing the Insteon switches theywere very reasonably priced (about $20 each), however Smarthomehas raised the prices substantially (about $45 each). The hardwarequality of the switches is pretty poor. I have had about 30% of theswitches go bad. Most of the problems are related to the switch notoperating locally because the momentary micro-switch inside goesbad. As an alternative you may want to use UPB switches. The mostrecent HAL software version (4.0) supports both UPB and Insteonprotocols fairly well.

Security System Control

Controlling lights is all good and fun, but this is just the tip of theiceberg. HAL can connect to a compatible alarm system via an RS-232port on your computer. Now you can control your alarm system byvoice. You can arm and disarm your security system from anywhere inthe world. The best part is that any door, window or motion sensorthat is monitored by your alarm is now a sensor in HAL. HAL usessensors to trigger events or act as a condition in a rule. For instance,when I come home and DISARMthe security system, HAL runs aseries of rules that I have set up:

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HAL announces, "Crap it's you again, I was hoping it wasCindy!" or "Hi there Cindy, nice to have you home."(Depending who just came home)

Then reads the stock price of AT&T Wireless. Then plays any new voice mail messages over the downstairs

speakers.Puts the house in "Normal" mode.HAL Checks the temperature and if it is greater than 80 degreesannounces, "I noticed it is damn hot in here, I will turn on theair conditioner and cool down the house" then carries out theaction. If it is colder then 70 degrees then HAL turns on the heat.

Of course when I leave the house HAL can jump into action when IARMthe security system:

If it is during the week, Monday through Friday, and between 7amand 10am HAL will shut down all the lights (Delayed 10 minutes so Ican exit safely) then shut down the air conditioner.When I arm the security system HAL checks to see if the garagedoor is open. If it is open HAL will announce, "I noticed you leftthe garage door open, I will close it for you now" then HALshuts the garage door.HAL waits 10 minutes then turns off the power to the garage dooropener. This is just in case someone breaks into a car and gets thegarage door opener.Once the garage door is actually closed HAL announces, "The

Garage door is shut" for further confirmation by an independentrule triggered by contacts on the garage door.HAL unlocks the car doors on my Honda Accord.

By now you have probably figured out that you can make HAL sayanything you want to by adding a "text to speech" action in a rule.This is fun since you can make HAL say anything in a male or femalevoice! Whats really cool is having HAL play windows wave files basedon actions in rules. Remember every door in the house is a sensor. Infact an opening door can fire one rule while the same door closing canfire another rule. You follow me yet? The Internet is filled with tons ofwindows wave files that can really animate your home. My front doorplays a creaking door opening when it is opened, and a creaky doorslamming shut when it is closed. The sliding glass door plays theelevator door sound effect from Star Trek when it is opened or closed.During Halloween we associated many scary sounds to doors, motionsensors and even the phone ringing. I have a set of stereo speakers,mounted in the eves of the attic in the front yard so I can listen to

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music on the weekends. Those speakers came in quite handy. Manysmall children did not approach our house that night.

I modified our bathroom scale with a wireless X-10 transmitter sowhenever someone steps on the scale a humorous wave file is played

throughout the house. This was recently mentioned in an article in theWall Street Journal.

Controlling the temperature

Playing wave files with HAL definitely opened up the opportunities forfun, but next I wanted to add some practicality. I bought two bi-directional X-10 Thermostats, one for the heating and air and theother for our hot tub. Since these are X-10 thermostats I did not needto connect them directly to the computer. I simple replaced theexisting thermostats with these RCS X-10 Thermostats then HAL hadcomplete control over the air conditioner. Now I have the ability tocontrol the air conditioner by voice. For instance I can ask HAL, "Whatis the house temperature" or "What is thespa temperature" and HALwill respond, "The temperature in the house is 78 degrees. You can setthe temperature with voice commands or in rules. I also wanted to beable to control the hot tub pump, jets, blower and light so I purchasedan RCS X-10 relay controller. I set this up in HAL and now all I have

to do is say, "Turn on the hot tub light" and HAL carries out myrequest.

Update: I recently replaced my RCS X-10 thermostat with a morereliable hard-wired RCS RS-485 thermostat. (I needed to use a RS-485 to RS-232 converter). I also now control the SPA with a JandyAquaLink RS-232 interface.

Controlling Audio and video equipment

Now that I had control over the thermostats it was time to attack theaudio and video devices. I wanted to be able to control every TV,Radio, VCR, and Replay TV with HAL. Not a problem. HAL can easilycontrol any audio video equipment that supports IR (Infra Red)

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communications. With the use of an IR Controller (I stronglyrecommend Applied Digital's Ocelot) HAL can learn every button ofevery remote control in your house. Then you can control thesedevices by voice or by rules or macros. The tricky part of this isdistributing the IR commands from the controller to the devices in your

house. I came up with a pretty inexpensive way to distribute the IR toevery TV in my house by using an Adicon SECU-16IR. This is a devicethat can send out IR to 16 independent zones. I used the existingcable TV lines in the house to carry the signal to the televisions. Tolearn how it was done click here. Now that I had the IR Distribution setup and had complete control over all of the TVs and radios in thehouse, I needed an inexpensive way to tell when a TV was on or off.This is important since most remote controls send a "toggle" commandto power on or off a TV. It is useful to know which state it is in beforeyou send the command. To learn how to build an inexpensive X-10 TVPower Sensor click here.

These TV power sensors come in very handy because now HAL can tellif a TV is turned on or off. I have set up some rules in HAL where:

When a phone rings HAL checks, which TVs are on, and mutes theaudio on those TVs.When the phone rings HAL will pause the CD or DVD player thenresume it when you hang up.When the doorbell rings, and we are home, (alarm is off) HAL playsa knocking door sound over the whole house audio system.

When the doorbell rings and we are not home (alarm is on) HALplays a growling dog sound over the whole house audio system.When the doorbell rings, and we are home, HAL changes any turnedon TV to channel 88 (which is the front door camera) for 1 minutethen JUMPS back to the channel you were previously watchingautomatically.When the doorbell rings and we are not home HAL powers on a VCR,changes it to channel 88 (Front Door Camera) and records 1.5minutes of video and audio then stops and turns off the VCR andnotifies me by e-mailing my wireless phone.

Play that funky music

The guys at Home Automated Living are always adding features to thesoftware. With the popularity of digital music on the rise they

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developed the DMC (Digital Music Center) for HAL. The DMC allowsyou to record all your CD's to your computers hard-drive and play it allby voice! That's right I can get HAL's attention then say, "Play PinkFloydin the master bedroom." or "Play my eighties music in thedownstairs." You can even play music by genre like, "Play my hard

rockmusic in the living room". Once you rip your music or use yourexisting MP3's HAL automatically voice activates all your songs. Thebest part is that you have complete control of you music viaautomation. The HAL guys added a ton of automation controls so youcan play music and control the DMC based on just about any event inthe house. Lets say you are listing to music and the phone rings, noproblem... I created a rule that pauses the music when the phonerings and resumes the music when you hand up. If you want to beable to specify a location to play the music. (i.e. "Play Pink Floydinthe master bedroom.") you will need to give HAL the ability to controlthe speakers in each room. I developed a low cost way to do this.You can learn how to do this by reading the "whole house audio"section of this web site.

Update: Using my new 2-way Insteon light switches I made a fewrules in HAL that will start, advance and stop the DMC music playerfrom the light switch in the bathroom.

Who is homeHAL can even keep track of which car is home or away with a smartcar sensor that I installed in each of our vehicles. This gives the housethe intelligence to adjust to our lifestyle depending on who is home.Here are some examples of what HAL can do:

HAL greets each of us by name when we come home.HAL turns on inside and outside lights at night, before we even getout of the car.HAL sets the answering machine to answer on 2 rings when bothcars are not home.HAL announces who is arriving or leaving the house.HAL plays my favorite music on the DMC when I arrive home.HAL sends an e-mail (text message) to our cell phones indicating theother has just arrived home, but only when the other is not home.HAL Plays only Jim's or Cindy's voice mail messages depending whojust got home.

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MACROS

By now you are likely seeing the power of this incredible software. HALis an operating system for your house. One of the best features of thissoftware is the ability to create a macro that can be activated with anatural voice phrase. A macro can send a series of commands to all ofthe devices in your house. For instance, since HAL has completecontrol over the alarm, air conditioner, lights and televisions, it is onlynatural to create a macro like

It's bed time.Hal responds, "I will arm the security system."HAL bypasses the motion sensor and arms the security system.HAL Says, "I will lock the cars just in case you forgot."HAL locks the car doors.HAL says, "I will turn off all the lights in the house."HAL shuts off all the lights (Except designated outdoor lights).HAL says, "One Moment while I set the mood, who knows youmight get lucky."

HAL dims the master bedroom lights to 30%HAL Says, "I will set the temperature to a comfortable 76degrees."HAL sets the house thermostat to 76 degrees.HAL turns on the bedroom ceiling fan for 20 minutes.HAL says, "Sleep tight my little angles."HAL Shuts off the master bedroom lights 10 minutes later.

Get the hot tub readyHAL says, "I wish I could go in the hot tub! I will get the hottub ready for you."HAL sets the hot tub temperature to 99 degrees.HAL turns on the hot tub light.HAL turns on the patio light.HAL turns on the hot tub pump.

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HAL turns on the hot tub jets. (Delayed 10 minutes).HAL Says, "I will let you know when the hot tub is ready.HAL then checks the hot tub temperature every 5 minutes to see if itis 99 degrees.When it reaches 99 degrees:

HAL turns on the patio TV.HAL turns off the hot tub jets.HAL says, "The hot tub is up to temperature, enjoy the water."

Lets listen to some musicHAL Evaluates which microphone is being addressed then turns onone of three stereos.

HAL Responds, "I will put on some CDs on living room stereo."HAL Powers on the living room receiver.HAL Changes the input to CD.HAL Powers on the CD player.HAL puts the CD player to shuffle mode.HAL plays the CDs

Lets watch TVHAL Evaluates which microphone is being addressed and turns onone of four TVs.HAL Responds, "I will turn on the family room TV an tune toCNN."

HAL powers the family room TV.HAL changes the channel to CNN (3 second delay after powercommand.)

Lets watch a movieHAL responds, "I love watching movies! I will prepare thehouse for a movie."HAL turns off all the lights in the house.HAL Dims the living room lights to 50%.HAL turns on the living room receiver and sets the input to DVD.

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HAL turns on the projection TV, which lowers the 10-foot screen.HAL opens the tray on the DVD player.HAL says, "Place the DVD in the tray. In 30 seconds I will startthe movie."

HAL then closes the tray and starts the DVD.

HAL then dims the living room lights to 20%.HAL turns on the living room LAVA LAMP.HAL says, "Enjoy your movie."HAL sets a flag called, "movie time"HAL exits listening mode. Since the loud audio in the house is loud.

When the family room motion sensor is tripped and the "DAY" flag isfalse and the MOVIE TIME flag is true; a light turns on which leads theway to the bathroom. This is for when you get up to use the bathroomduring a movie.

When the living room receiver is turned off from the normal remote

HAL notices the MOVIE TIME flag is true and turns on the lights.HAL says, "I hope you enjoyed the movie."HAL sets the MOVIE TIME flag false.HAL turns off the TV, which raises the screen.HAL turns off the LAVA LAMP.HAL turns on the bedroom lights.HAL enters listening mode.HAL shuts off the down stairs lights after 10 minutes.

Some macros are set up for pure entertainment purposes. Hereare a few that I have available:

Whats up?HAL Plays this wave file.

Who is the president of the United States?HAL Says, "Thats easy, George W Bush"

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Who let the dogs out?HAL Plays this wave file.

Go away!HAL plays this wave file as a response.HAL exits listening mode, an alternative to goodbye or thank you.

Dont think I'm obsessed. Some of these are just for the entertainmentfactor. You can program responses to macros that lead people tobelieve you are speaking with an actual assistant.

Schedules

Hal also has a powerful schedule feature that allows you to create

reminders. For instance, I can call the house from my wireless phoneand have HAL schedule a voice reminder to be played at a date andtime in the future. When the time comes the recording is playedthroughout the house reminding me of the task. This is especiallyuseful for repetitive tasks that need to be carried out on certain days. Ihave scheduled a reoccurring reminder that is played on Tuesdays andSundays that reminds me to take out the trash. It is very specific asHAL announces, "Tonight is garbage night, please take all house trashand lawn clippings to the curb." Reminders can also be subtle anddiscreet. Every night at 10:30 I play a single wave file as a reminderfor my wife to take her birth control pill. Its so effective that some

nights she takes two!

Occupancy Sensors

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For the most part this is just one big educational hobby. But there aretimes where all this automation starts to make sense by taking overmany repetitive daily tasks. If you follow your weekly routine you willfind yourself doing the same thing day in and day out, usually at thesame time of the day. These routine tasks are perfect opportunities for

HAL to automate. Many of my macros and rules attempt to do justthat. However it is a real triumph to not have to raise a finger in orderto start a series of events. I have installed an occupancy sensor(motion detector) in our bathroom. This sensor is used to trigger manydifferent rules depending on the time of day.

If the occupancy sensor is tripped between 6:45 and 8:45 AM

The bathroom lights turn on.

The thermostat is set back to 78 Degrees (So the AC doesnt blow on

you when your wet from the shower.)The bathroom TV is turned on and set to NBC (Good Morning

America)The house is taken out of SLEEP mode and put into NORMAL mode.

If the occupancy sensor it tripped during the evening:

The bathroom lights turn on.

- however if the house is in "SLEEP MODE" thenThe bathroom lights turn on at 10% brightness for 4 minutes.

I installed these same occupancy sensors in just about every room inthe house. Walking into an unoccupied room, after sunset, causesHAL to turn on the lights. I purchased some nice 2-way X-10Switchlinc switches that fade to bright when turned on. This gives avery cool effect as you walk into the room. In addition, since theseare 2-way switches they can report their status to HAL. When theroom is unoccupied for a preset duration HAL checks to see if thelights are on by polling the switches status. If the light was left onthen HAL announces throughout the entire house, "I see you left thelights on in the master bedroom but are no longer there. I will

turn off that light to conserve power and save money." ThenHAL turns off the lights in that room. Here's the cool part: If youhappened to be in the room but were simply motionless for a while,say reading a book, and you wave your arm (15 seconds after HALmade the announcement) HAL will turn the light back on and say,"Sorry I didn't see you there." Of course he only says that over thespeaker in that room.

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For fun, I have a sound-effects mode that I can enable by voice. Forexample, when the sound-effects mode is on and you walk into theguest bedroom HAL says, "Welcome to the guest bedroom, nowtake off your clothes and lets' get down to business."

Voice Controlled telephone

book

HAL has a directory feature that can hold all of the names, addressesand phone numbers of your contacts. In fact if you use MicrosoftOutlook HAL can use your existing phone book. Since we were recentlymarried I took the wedding list that contained the names and numbersof more than 100 friends and relatives and imported them into HAL.This is extremely useful as all I need do to ask for someones homeaddress is say, "What is the home address for Elizabeth kidderandHAL will rattle off that home address. The best part is that HAL canactually call them at home, work or their wireless phone. I wassurprised how accurately it recognizes subtle differences in names.Since there are many different "Lipsits" in the directory I can ask HALto call Dan Lipsitat CELL and HAL never misses. I can hear the callover the speakers in the house then pick up an extension when thecalling party picks up. At this time I have not interfaced the

microphones in the house to the input on the modem.

HAL also works great with caller-id. When a call comes in, HALannounces the caller ID name and number throughout the house. Youcan also leave custom greetings for your callers based on the caller ID.For instance I can open the phone book (all by voice) and ask HAL toleave a custom greeting for Dan Lipsitat CELL. If Dan calls from hiswireless phone and HAL answers the custom greeting is played just forDan. This adds a great level of personalization for your callers. Ofcourse you can route those caller-id "private" calls to a special voicemailbox, which can contain a personal message just for telemarketers!

The HAL engineers are constantly adding features to the software. Inthe latest 2.0 update they added a host of cool telephony features.You can now associate a wave file to a entry in your phone book. Soyou can get your friends and family to record custom caller-idannouncements that will be played over the speakers in your housewhen they call. They also added an option where you can instruct HAL

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to intercept calls from unknown or private callers or individuals youjust don't like. HAL then plays a custom greeting just for them andeither hangs-up or takes a message.

Internet Information

HAL also downloads information from the Internet and makes itavailable by voice control. You select how often HAL goes to theInternet to update the following information:

1. Up to 40 different stock quotes

2. 10 current news events.

3. Your personal email.

4. TV Listings.

5. Weather conditions for your area for each day of the week.

6. Traffic information for a limited number of cities.

7. Sports scores for Football, Baseball, Soccer, Basketball and Hockey.

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Imagine being able to access your entire movie and music collection from any room

without the need for several separate home entertainment systems.

With an audio/video whole house distribution system, your collection of music andmovies can be centralize and shared by each and every member of your family. A well-

planned and installed multi-room system will offer you and your family access to your

favorite movie and music collection in any room you choose - even the garden, balconyor rooftop.

Wall-mounted keypads, touch-screens and portable remotes enable you to select your

choice of music/movies/radio stations anywhere in your home. Each offers independent

control of on/off, source selection, volume, treble/bass, etc.

Dad will love the high-tech touch-screen controllers, mom will love how easy it is to use,

and the kids will be thrilled at how seamlessly a multi-room system integrates their

digital music and movies.

With a whole-house A/V distribution system, the children can listen to their favourite

singers in their rooms, while the mom listens to her favourite radio station, while you and

your friends are watching the latest Hollywood blockbuster in the living room, all at thesame time!

Most multi-room systems also incorporate an intercom system that enable a family

member upstairs to communicate with another member of the household in the living

room. They can also be programmed to mute every time a phone rings, or when thedoorbell rings.

Multi-room systems are also expandable, and enable you to gradually add additional

areas of the home to the distribution network, if and when the need arises.

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Patios, gardens and pool areas are great places to enjoy outdoor music with weather-proof

speakers that matches the landscape. A multi-room system is an ideal companion for

outdoor parties and gatherings of family and friends.

A multi-room system frees up space and eliminates the cost of having redundant AV

components in each of your living space. They are affordable and scalable to any home

size and budget.

Whether relaxing, working, entertaining or doing chores, a whole-house AV

entertainment system brings the family together and offers an unparalleled level of

convenient and enjoyment to a home and its occupants.

The era of hi-definition is truly upon us, and with hi-def displays and even cutting-edge

home theater projectors reaching very affordable levels, there's no better time than now to

set up that dream home cinema/entertainment system that were once out of reach to themasses. But creating a really good home theater, be it in a dedicated room or part of an

existing living room, requires more than just spending tons of money and a general

knowledge of AV technology.

Many factors have to be taken into consideration when building that dream theater.

How many times have we came across home theater setups comprising of reputable

brands sounding anything but great? A well planned and calibrated home theater setup

will leave the audience totally immersed in the whole cinematic experience.

From the ear-shattering roar of a jet air-craft flying over your head, to being in the middle

of a thunderstorm, to the near-silent whisper of a pin dropping onto the floor, you will be

left in awe at the realism of the cinematic experience of your home theater system.

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From overall design and layout, to creating the perfect ambient lighting, to advise on

eliminating unwanted visual and acoustic reflections from your HT room, to finding the

ideal balance between aesthetics, comfort and acoustics, to simplifying the whole HTexperience with 1-touch controls, we at The Automated Lifestyle, have the experience

and technical know-how to turn that dream home theater into reality.

You and your family will never need to visit the local cinema again. Just remember tobring the popcorn.

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An automated and intelligent office will impress clients and visitors alike. With a single

touch of a touch-panel, the lights will begin to dim, the blinds will shut, the motorized

screen will drop from the ceiling, and the projector will come on. And the ideal

presentation environment is achieved in seconds!

Office automation also allows pipe-in music to be available in any specified area of the

office, from the director's room to the employee's lounge. Each area will haveindependent control over the selection of music source, volume control and the likes.

An automated office system can also help increase your energy efficiency and turn off

lights and devices that are not in used. With office automation, you can program lightsand devices to automatically go off when motion hasn't been detected for a given timeperiod. Turning off lights that aren't needed can translate into a substantial amount in

energy savings annually.

At The Automated Lifestyle, we have the expertise, experience and technological know-how to improve your company's corporate image, add convenience and simple 1-touch

operation to everyday operations and still saves you money with optimal energy usage

and efficiency.

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Lighting Control Systems

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Switch on or off lights with a remote! Just like you would not have an aircon without a

remote, why should you have lights with remote control?

Remote control lights let you control the lights without getting off your seat. Suchconvenience can even translate into savings because now you will switch off lights even

if it is inconvenient for you to get out of your seat!

What about changing light scene with several lights, eg, TV time, or family games time,at the touch of a button? You can do with with remote lighting control! No more going to

the switches and adjusting the dimmers and lights every evening!

With Lighting control systems, you can even design how you want your lights to behave

based on occasion, time of day, motion, security, mood, and many other factors.

Who should have it?

Homeowners who have invested in the interior of their homes and wants to extend their

home experience

Homeowners (eg of landed properties) who want to eliminate the inconvenience ofgoing to switches to manage their lights

Homeowners with elderly who appreciate the convenience

Homeowners who are proud to equip their homes with modern capabilities

Houseproud homeowners who entertains at home

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Motorized Blinds and Curtain Systems

Control drapes, curtains and blinds with a remote. No more getting out of beds to drawthem. No more going round behind sofas to reach the curtains lines. Just draw them at the

touch of a remote or touchscreen.

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One of the biggest benefits derived from our Blinds and Curtains systems is their

programmability integrated in one of our remote control systems. Curtains can drawautomatically in the morning to wake you up gently to the sunrise! Or if you would like

to sleep with the night sky but doesn't want to be woken up by the morning sun, justprogram them to draw in the middle of the night, automatically! Just like you time an

video recorder to tape your favourite program!

Who Should Have This?

Homeowners who has will appreciate the convenience of remote controls

Homeowners who has invested in the interior of their homes and want to extend that

experience

Houseproud homeowners who entertains in their home

Homes with elderly members who needs the convenience of a remote control

Automation can be based on input on your remote control or the following:

Chronological time (time of day)

Astronomical time (sunrise/sunset)

Room occupancy

Events

Presence/absence of lights

Alarm/security conditions

Program logic (any combination of events)

A blind or curtain control system will provide the ideal level of lighting for any area of a

home and office, at any given time, for any occasion. There are many applications of

lighting control systems, and they have a lot to offer in terms of ease and convenience.

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Regardless of your budget and requirement, The Automated Lifestyle has a curtain

control system to meet and satisfy your needs.

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Imagine waking up every morning to the sweet sound of your favourite artist, thedraperies opens to reveal the glorious sunshine welcoming you to a new day.

The music you left behind begins to fade and sensing its masters presence, the lights in

the bathroom turns on and greets you as you walk in. The wall-flushed monitor turns onand automatically switches to your favourite news channel from CNN.

Welcome to the smart home.

With the rapid advancement in home technologies, what was once the domain of only the

mega wealthy or tech-savvy, are now affordable for the masses. Whatever your budgetlevel, expectations and lifestyle, there is a home automation system to meet your needs.

Home automation is for everyone and has a myriad of applications.

Luxury Lifestyle - The whole house can be wired up to give you instant access andcontrol of practically any devices in your home. These include A/V equipment, lighting,

air-con, curtain/blinds, security/CCTV, spa, auto-gate, pool, sprinklers, etc.

Energy Savings - Electric bills go down when lights are automatically turned off when a

person leaves the room, and rooms can be cooled or heated based on the surrounding

temperature and who's there at any given moment. Home automation can track how muchenergy each appliance is using and command it to use less.

Convenience - At the touch of a button in the master bedroom, the owner can activatehis security system, turn off all unused air-cons and lighting, and locks his main gate,

ensuring a good and peaceful night sleep.

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Children - The TVs power supply can be program to cut off at specific time of the day

and ensure your child dont spend all their time in front of the TV while you are at work.Lights in a childs bedroom can be turn on by remote control for children too young to

reach the wall switch. Similarly, lights can come on automatically when your child walksinto the bathroom.

Elderly and Disabled - The ability to turn on/off lights when visiting the bathroom orturning in for the night is a great benefit for the elderly and disabled. A strategically

placed keypad for them to control commonly-used devices with 1-touch operation saves

time and offers a higher level of comfort and convenience.

Security - When the whole family is about to leave for a holiday, a touch on the wall-

mounted touch-screen will activate all security, alarm and CCTV in and around your

home. You can even have certain lights and your TV turn on at specific time of the day to

give the impression that the house is occupied.

Home automation also facilitates the monitoring of your young children while you are at

work. It can also activate any of your security devices when you are away from home via

a PC or cell phone.

The possibilities are endless and only limited by our imagination. The home of the future

is here today. Embrace it.

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