We live in the age of “everything connected”. People, ideas, light bulbs, vehicles, thermostats, cameras, smart door locks… They’re all connected through what we call the “internet of things”. What about things invented before the IoT era, which are still very present in our daily lives? Now you can control them too!
Almost Everything
Let’s classify home appliances into two categories: connected and “disconnected” devices. Connected devices are those that you can control directly via Wi-Fi, Zigbee or Bluetooth. By definition, a connected device is constantly present in your local network and it can be accessed at any time. But not all connected devices are necessarily smart devices. By definition, a smart device must have a minimum on-board logic that performs autonomous actions independently of user interaction. Good examples are Nest or Honeywell’s Lyric thermostats.
Until now, the revolution of “everything connected” has excluded home appliances that are still very important to us. We can’t live without smartphones, but we can’t live without good ol’ aircons or TV sets either. To solve this dillema, Beecon now introduces a way to control and connect to the “disconnected” devices.
Enter Infrared
Since its inception, Beecon has provided different ways for you to connect and control your server, light bulbs and even tweet based on your proximity to iBeacons. The range of applications is up to our imagination and creativity. Now, Beecon enables you to control ordinary home appliances that could only be controlled by a good old friend of us: the infrared remote control. Infrared control via third-party gear and mobile apps aren’t something new, but for the first time, now you’re able to control them based on iBeacon proximity.
My Air Conditioner Is Not Smart
In the same way that you need a Zigbee/Bluetooth bridge or a Wi-Fi router to connect to your smart devices, you also need an interface to connect to your ordinary home appliances that use infrared. We’ve done the hard work for. Now, Beecon supports IR connectivity via iTach IR controller bridges. The bridges made by Global Caché come in two flavours: Wi-Fi or cabled ethernet. They become present with a fixed IP in your list of attached devices, just like your traditional Philips Hue bridge does. With an infrared bridge, your connection options become limitless.
Getting Things Connected
After connecting your iTach IR controller to your local network (using Wi-Fi or ethernet cable), you need to configure its IP address in Beecon. The bridge comes with a learner sensor and an infrared blaster that can “shoot” IR signals to multiple devices up to 25 feet away. With your bridge installed and configured, you can use Beecon to “learn” infrared commands that you define by simply pressing your remote control(s) button(s) in front of the bridge. These commands can be later triggered in order to turn on/off any IR appliance that you may have in range of your iTach controller.
Your Imagination Is The Sky
Don’t be limited to Wi-Fi or Bluetooth devices. Your imagination is your limit and Beecon is your interface to anything connected. To know more about what iBeacons enable you to do, check some of the applications and tutorials below.