Application:HomeControl
Overview
Home Control is an app that aims to provide means to control everything remotely controlled at your home.
Installation
Client
The client app can be installed from Preware, you need to have beta apps feed enabled.
Server
You can get the server app from the following url: http://wee.e-lnx.org/homecontrol/
This server software can be run on Linux / OS X / Window, see the supported features below. To run the server you only need to have node.js installed on your system and for Linux mouse/keyboard control you need to have xdotool installed as well for now (later on it wont be needed once I switch to node.js solution).
Features
General
Boxee and XBMC control
Enables control of Boxee and XBMC (both devices and application running on a desktop machine).
Cisco IP surveillance
Allows viewing of the cameras video feed from Home Control.
TouchPad Surveillance Camera (enabled in 0.7.0)
Enables using of the web cam in TouchPad as an security cam when places on touchstone. Sends an alert to Home Control apps running on your phones if movement is detected. You can also view the latest captured image on Home Control running on your phone.
VLC video player control
Allows basic controlling of VLC video player, more advanced controls are coming. Requires the LUA interface to be enabled in the VLC.
Linux Specific
The features listed below are currently Linux only, for now. These feature requires the Home Control server software to be running on the machine.
Status information
Shows temperature information from 1-wire temperature sensors connected to the computer.
Mouse and keyboard control
Allows full mouse and keyboard control.
PulseAudio Mixer / Sound control (enabled in 0.7.0)
Allows controlling of system volume and other stuff.
Rhythmbox and MPD music player control
Allows basic controlling of these music player applications, more advanced controls are coming.
Totem video player control
Allows basic controlling of Totem video player, more advanced controls are coming.
Windows Specific
Mac OS X Specific
The features listed below are currently Mac OS X only, for now. These feature requires the Home Control server software to be running on the machine.
Mouse and keyboard control (enabled in 0.7.0)
Allows full mouse and keyboard control.
Front Row controlling (enabled in 0.7.0)
Enables control of Front Row application.
iTunes music player
Enables control of iTunes application.
QuickTime video player (enabled in 0.7.0)
Enables control of QuikTime Player application.
System Sound Mixer / Volume (enabled in 0.7.0)
Enables system input / output volume and mute control.
Configuration
All currently supported controllers need the server address of the device/HC server. The form of the address is <address>:<port>, if username/password is needed then: <user>:<password>@<address>:<port>
For the controllers that need the Home Control server, the address is the IP address of the computer running the server application and the port is 3000. For the other controllers that control the devices/applications directly you need to see the device/application configuration for the username/password and address/port configuration. Below you can find some additional information and default settings for some of the devices/applications.Boxee / XBMC
See the Boxee/XBMC configuration for the address/port setup. The default port is 8080.
VLC
To enable the controlling in VLC select 'Add Interface' from the menus and select 'Web Interface'. Then you can configure the controller in Home Control by using the IP address of the computer running the VLC and default port 8080.
Or you can just start VLC from command line with following parameters: vlc --extraintf=luaintf --lua-intf=httpMouse control in OS X
Mouse control requires XTool to be installed (http://lestang.org/osax/XTool/XTool-2.0.dmg.tgz).
Resources
Supporting Development
Official Developer Project Page
Official Forum
Home Control
Official Twitter Account
- Follow Home Control on Twitter: @therealsconix
Status
Changelog
Future features
- Extend the already supported modules with full playlist control / search etc.
- Winamp module for Music Player extension (will be the first test module for Windows)
- Window Media Player control if possible
- IP / Web Camera support for surveillance / monitoring with motion detection
- Support for IR controlled devices
- UPNP module for controlling UPNP devices
- You have something else on your mind, then please let me know :)