Home Entertainment as the Beachhead for Home Automation

ABI: Of all the household products and systems that might benefit from automation and control, home entertainment will offer the path of least resistance for vendors, h. Home entertainment is the key application that will provide traction for the home automation market,. Home automation has been around in two forms for at least 30 years. Commercial systems offering control of lighting, climate, appliances, security, and more have long been available from companies such as AMX and Crestron. They are sophisticated and expensive. At the other end of the scale, X-10, an inexpensive powerline-based technology, has been embraced by hobbyists and tinkerers, but has proved too limited and complicated for mass adoption. The large market in the middle has remained untapped, but that may be about to change. With the relatively recent introduction of interoperable new technologies such as Z-Wave, ZigBee, and INSTEON, new vendors such as Intermatic, Monster Cable, and Universal Electronics have entered the market, targeting mainstream households. Home theater systems are increasingly making their way into middle-class homes, and consumers clearly want to integrate their multimedia into residential life. Although home automation can control heating, cooling and ventilation, safety, security and access systems, pools and spas, appliances, and irrigation, vendors will find automation systems supporting home entertainment (control of lighting and curtains, for example) gaining the earliest mass market acceptance. Most people in the mainstream market just don't know about home automation technology, what it can do for them, or how it's implemented. Customer education is a key challenge for vendors. For that reason, high-touch retail will be best model for informing customers and deploying automation systems in their homes. Certain subsystems may be amenable to off-the-shelf sales, but more complex systems require a consultative sales model, which can be provided by stores such as Magnolia and M-Design. Home Automation and Control Publ 20060629