When it comes to the connected home, the conversation often slips into just how it can be accomplished. All OEMs have their process, and their devices are definitely smart, but do you want an LG house? Can you afford that? If you have a little time, and a bit of know-how on the programming side of things, WunderBar is probably something you should see.
Crowd-funded, and not yet finished, WunderBar sets out to make automation really simple. The module comes with six little “smart modules”, three of which “monitor temperature, proximity, light, color, humidity, and movement.” One controls your home entertainment system via an infra-red transmitter, and the last two will be decided by the crowd funding it. Powering them all is a beacon that works via BLE and WiFi.
The Beacon is pretty open, working with SDKs for Android, iOS, or Node.js. Right out of the box, the team behind WunderBar say you can get cracking in 10 minutes with their thermostat tutorial. There are various demo apps available as well, or you can always build your own if you’re inclined.
For the tinkerers out there, this is fantastic. For the rest of us, it’s still pretty amazing. The thought of controlling everything wirelessly is really exciting, and having an open source platform to do it with just makes it much more attractive. The WunderBar is currently in the funding stage, with an ETA of Summer 2014 — should it meet its goal.
