Apple has been granted a patent for a home automation system to connect the many devices found in the average household. Although this patent is aimed at the home market initially, much like the iPad, which was launched as a consumer device, it wouldn’t be too much of a surprise to see this technology make its way into the pro AV world.
With the adoption of the iPad into many pro-AV installations around the world, the consumer electronics giant has already made a significant move into the sphere of where traditional control systems products from the likes of AMX and Crestron already sit.
This move would only increase Apple’s presence in the pro AV sector further.
The patent uses data from an iPhone/iPad to determine the user's location and perform the actions of a normal control system i.e. turn on lights, turn off air conditioning.
The technology works in a similar fashion to the Reminders iOS app, but will extend its usage to control the home or office environment, rather than provide location-based memos, as it does at present.
The technology could even use credit cards or RFiD badges to tell the control system where the user is, and act accordingly i.e. turn on lights as they approach a certain room.
The patent describes an information-gathering system which would know where the user had been that day, where they were going, and how long it would take them to get there, based on location data which is gathered along the way, every time that user passed a particular phone mast.