Re: Re: RFXCOM to HomeSeer and other HA apps via xAP - and other GUI's ..

[Chris Hunter <cjhunter@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Yep ... only the controls have evolved, so the automation interprets
the intention, takes care of the details & sorts-out the rough edges
(eg: moving the stick back used to just move (maybe) the tailplane,
and when the aircraft started to move the pilot had to continuously
moderate what he was doing & adjust other controls to keep things in
balance, now he just uses the stick to command (eg) pitch-rate, and
the automation does all the rest, plus makes it all happens smoothly
& makes sure no limits are exceeded) ... also, dynamically labeled
switches are used to de-clutter the instrument panel - so long as the
context sensitivity & menu structure is well thought-through, it can
work well (ie: it's no use if it  ain't offering what you want & what
you want is deep down somewhere & obscure) ...

on the HA front, we're trying to think this through ... one example
is with taps ... at the moment, it's necessary either to turn two
knobs separately & adjust them, and re-adjust them, to get the
desired result or, as with a lever / mixer tap, move the leaver in a
combination of two directions to set rate & temperature, again
adjusting the settings as things happens to get the desired result,
whereas (IMHOP) it would be much better to have the HA do all that &
have (say) two switches (or sensors) on the wall (or floor), one for
I-want-to-wash-my-hands, and the other for I-want-to-fill-a-kettle ...

ditto with lighting ... one for mood, one for task, one for
housework, plus two more for up & down ...

ditto with brewing tea ... a timer-function available through four
buttons, on the wall by the teapot - one for China, one for Ceylon,
one for .... because the optimum brewing times are so different, and
I'm fed-up with getting it wrong because I'm deep into e-mails or
cooking or reading the 'paper, or whatever ...

ditto an alarm-clock function, by the bed ...

ditto ... cooking controls ... etc !

no answers yet, just ideas, but 'must sort it out soon (leaving
flexibility), 'cos as soon as a few things are out of the way, we
need to get on with first-fix on the house ...

Chris


On 13 Apr 2007, at 09:13, Mal Lansell wrote:

> --- In ukha_d@xxxxxxx, Chris Hunter <cjhunter@...> wrote:
>>
>> on fighter aircraft, we've used automation very successfully to
> move
>> from giving the pilot links to the controls, to giving the pilot
> a
>> means to say what he / she wants to happen ... eg: he / she uses
> the
>> stick & switches to say what is to happen, rather than to move
> the
>> controls or switch things on & off, per-se ... 'seems to me we
> should
>> aim to do something similar with HA
>
> When I say there should be a standard switch, I don't necessarily
> mean a mechanical device that physically connects or disconnects the
> current - I mean that there should be something in the expected
> location on the wall with familiar press-to-do something switches or
> buttons.  Fly-by-wire is fine - it's the intuitive way the user
> interacts with the controls that needs to be preserved, in the same
> way that an aircraft retains the familiar controls for the pilot,
> even if they are no longer mecahnically linked to the control
> surfaces.  That's why dynamically labelled switches and touchscreens
> are a bad idea, IMO.
>
> Mal
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