Piece of mind boggling technology

Being a Ram Gopal Verma fan, I find Karan Johar’s films puzzling. What with all those big families, shaadi’s, rich people who weep over silly things, his films show life that is as alien to me as the life of Inuits. But the most puzzling things are the houses his characters live in, which are the size of asteroids, but devoid of any modern tech. I mean if I have a house that size which is decorated so beautifully, won’t I have the most modern security system in it. But then again, if I have any say in writing scripts, half of Indian films will end even before they have started.

Thankfully, some very good technologies are available in India for people who want to automate their home, as I came to know recently. When I was contacted by a builder called Total Environment, I was skeptical. I thought they are offering some substandard tech as cutting-edge, as often happens in India. After a bit of probing, I found out to my embarrassment that they really have some cutting edge tech out there that they are implementing in houses across India. Since then, I’ve learnt that many more firms are offering home automation here, and that I’m in fact a cave dweller compared to the kind of houses that are being built.

These tech toys are relatively new and are getting more user-friendly due to innovative use of smartphones and tablets. As an example, Total Environment’s system costs a whopping Rs 15-18 lakh to install, and comes with a tabletish touchscreen control, or for people who prefer using their own devices, Android and iOS apps. Broadly, the tech they’re offering can be classified into two types. Security & visitor management, and comfort & entertainment. The visitor management feature let’s you hear or see a visitor from anywhere in the world, and lets you control your door remotely. The more impressive security system is what you’d want if you’re Mr Moneybags. It uses IP cameras to keep an eye on the house and provides you with video streams. You can use a simple button to ‘arm’ your home which activates motion detectors, glass break detectors, magnetic sensors for doors and windows, which when activated set off alarms and send out pre-recorded messages to up to eight mobile phones for you or your family to react.

There are also features aimed at providing comfort, like ACs that can be remotely operated, so that the house ready when you arrive, mood lighting systems which can not only be turned on and off using your iPad, but can also be set to different levels of brightness. Sprinkler systems for the garden can also be controlled remotely, integrated music systems let you control music in individual rooms, and even systems to open or close curtains are made available at the touch of a button.

At the moment such systems are being offered by builders who custom install them for each user. If the technologies displayed by Samsung and Motorola is any indication, our homes are going to get very smart.

The writer is a tech geek.

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