As of Monday, April 5th at 11:30 AM, this iPad installation was up and running, controlling all the home’s subsytems—Lighting, Security, HVAC, Pool, and Audio.

Paul Hughes, the president and founder of HomeBase Systems, says:

We believe this to be the first fully automated home being run by an iPad as the primary interface. While what an iPad “could” do for a home is interesting to contemplate, we are thrilled to claim a fully-deployed, working installation that we can measure and is delivering exciting solutions for our client.

iPad controlling audio zones

iPad controlling the kitchen lights

Thank you, Paul and HomeBase Systems!

Introduction

In Life|ware Visual Project, you can create collections of devices that can be dragged into a script to automatically add all devices to the script, or dragged into a menu to automatically add all devices to a submenu.

Note: One of the ways Collections are used is to add devices to a script style. However, before you can apply a Collection to a script style, you must create the script style. We will deal with creating a script style in a future post.

Creating a Collection

Use the following steps to create a collection.

1. Click the Collections tab on the Configuration Pane.

2. Click the plus (+) sign to create a new collection. The Collections window appears in the Designer window area.

3. Enter the collection name in the Name field.

4. To add devices to the Collection, drag them from the Devices Pane into the Collection Items field.

Note: Pay attention to the order in which you add devices to the Collection. The order in which you add devices to the Collection is the order in which they will be added to the Script Style, script, or menu.

5. Click File | Save.

Alternative Method of Adding a Device to a Collection

You can also add a device to a collection by right-clicking the device in the Configuration Pane.

1. Right-click the device in the Configuration Pane.

2. Point to Add To.

3. Select the collection to add the device to.

Adding a Collection to a Script

Use the following steps to add a Collection of devices to a script:

1. Open the script you want to add the devices to in the Designer Window.

2. Click the Collections tab.

3. Drag the Collection from the Collections tab into the script in the Designer Window.

The Collection devices appear in the script.

4. Click File | Save.

Adding a Collection to a Submenu

Use the following steps to add a Collection of devices to a submenu:
1. Open the menu and submenu you want to add the devices to in the Designer Window.

2. Click the Collections tab.

3. Drag the Collection from the Collections tab into the submenu in the Designer Window.

The Collection devices appear in the submenu.

4. Click File | Save

Life|ware Visual Project allows you to configure a message with customized text and buttons to be displayed on the client screen. This feature is called client notification.

One and Two Way Messages

Client notification messages can be one-way, “Someone is at your door” with an OK button to clear the message. Or the message can be two-way “Someone is at your door. Would you like to see who is there?” with a Yes button that activates the front door camera screen.

Client Must Be Running

Client notification appears in the Devices Pane of Life|ware Visual Project only when the client, Media Center (MCML) or touch panel (WPF), is running.

Configuring a One-Way Message

A one-way client notification message can be added to a script as a means of informing the customer. For instance, a script could start with the pressing of a doorbell. Customers may want an on-screen notification, so they will get the message even if they are in the theater and can’t hear the doorbell.

To configure a one-way client notification message:

1. Open or create the script you want to add the client notification message to.

2. Drag client notification from the Devices Pane into the script. Keep in mind:

• Drag the client notification from the machine you want the notification message to appear on. Use the Filter Servers button on the Device Pane to display the machines on your network.
• The client must be running for client notification to appear in the Devices Pane.

3. Click the Type arrow and select Message.

4. Enter the message text in the Message field.

5. Enter the text for the buttons (up to three). Since this message is one-way, the only effect a button can have is to cancel the message.

6. Enter the desired timeout value.

7. Click File | Save.

Add a Trigger

To get a client notification message to appear when a doorbell is pressed, you must add a trigger to the script that activates the message when the doorbell is pressed.

The message appears in the client when the doorbell is pressed.

Configuring a Two-Way Message

A two-way message allows customers to interact with the system. For example, suppose the client notification message is “Someone is at the front door. Would you like to see who is there?” If the customer selects

• Yes, the system displays the front door camera screen.
• No, the system returns the user to the previous screen.

Use the following steps to configure a two-way message:

1. Open or create the script you want to add the client notification message to.

2. Drag client notification from the Devices Pane into the script. Remember, the client must be running for client notification to appear in the Devices Pane.

3. Click the Type arrow and select Message.

4. Select the Two Way Message checkbox.

5. Enter the Timeout value.

6. Hover over the Variables tab in the upper left corner of the Designer window and click the plus sign to add a new variable.

7. Click the blue Variable arrow to expand the pane.

8. Enter the variable name and select Text as the type.

9. Click on the variable and drag on to the Response Variable option.

10. Complete the script by adding a conditional action to access the front door camera based on the Response Variable.

11. Click File | Save.

Add a Trigger

To get a client notification message to appear when a doorbell is pressed, you must add a trigger to the script that activates the message when the the doorbell is pressed.

The message appears in the client when the doorbell is pressed.

There are two main steps to configure custom backgrounds in Life|ware Visual Project:

1. Import the image into Life|ware Visual Project using the Image Editor.

2. Apply image as a custom background.

Importing an Image

1. Click the File menu option and select Import Images….

The Open window appears.

2. Navigate to the image file location, select the image and click Open. To select multiple images, select the first image, hold down the Shift key and select the last image. The image appears in the Image Editor.

The same image file can be used as a background for all Life|ware screens or it can be used as a background for a specific submenu or device.

3. If you are importing multiple images, click Select All.

4. If you are not making changes to the image, click Import.

5. On the import confirmation message, click Yes. The image (or images) is now available in Life|ware Visual Project.

Configuring Custom Backgrounds

1. Under the Menus tab, double-click the menu that you want to add a custom background to. The menu appears in the Designer Window.

Note: In an MCML client, custom backgrounds will apply to Life|ware only, not to Media Center screens.

2. To apply a custom background to the entire Life|ware menu, click the Custom Background button on the right side of the toolbar. To apply a custom background to a submenu or device, navigate to that item, then click the Custom Background button.

The Image Selector window appears.

3. To find the image file, type the name of the file in the Filter field.

4. Select the image and click OK.

5. Click File | Save.

Clearing Custom Backgrounds

To clear a custom background from a menu, submenu, or device, click the Clear Background button.

This is great news for us and all of our partners who are working to make DPWS a standard for home control and automation.

Check out the whole press release here.

Get more information at Parks Associates.

Here’s what the owner, Mike Kreaden, has to say about Life|ware:

“Without a doubt, the best part of the system is Life|ware. This is the missing link to unify and simplify the integration of all of these systems. I love the fact that we can script ‘scenes’—basically sequences of actions to perform across many systems. I have a ‘firepit scene’ that I use when relaxing by our meeting area around our firepit; -landscape and house lighting is automatically turned on at specific intensities and a favorite playlist from Windows Media Center is played (at a pre-determined level) in the outdoor garden zone via our Russound system. Other key automation scenes like pre-set comfort controls for A/C, and shower and tub scenes that automatically lower the shades, set the lighting, turn on the fan, etc., are what we like best about our system. The ability for fine-grained control of these systems, down to individual lights and devices, is what I know will pay dividends for us for years to come.”

Take the video tour (near the bottom of the page) or download the PDF of the case study at the Media Center Integrator Alliance page. Learn more about the Windows Media Center Ultimate Install contest here.