Items marked by the "Sensor" tag:

With COVID-19 sweeping the globe, here at August we’re staying indoors and practicing “social distancing” to avoid getting sick or infecting others. While movement in and out of the home is limited right now, there are ways we can proactively protect those we live with — all starting with our front door. Here are a few ways you can do so: Go “contact-less” with deliveries Continue to support your local businesses and delivery workers by ordering out, but make sure you keep a safe distance. Many services like DoorDash, Caviar and UberEats have featured or added a “contact-less” option, allowing you to leave a picture of your door, note instructions for drop-off, or when they call, let them know they can leave your goods outside. While August normally allows easy, remote access for in-person deliveries, this social distancing version reduces contact between delivery staff and recipients and keeps both parties safe. For peace of mind, you can set up an August View doorbell camera to see your deliveries safely to the door and speak with delivery personnel right from your phone.  Keep door access clean and “hands-free” If/when you do need to go in and out, consider installing a smart lock for “hands-free” access. August’s and Yale’s Connected by August smart locks offer Auto-Unlock and Auto-Lock, keeping your hands off your phone and/or keys when you approach or leave your front door. We also recommend keeping wipes handy to sanitize both your outside and inside door handles. Minimize grocery store visits Be wise about how many people in your household shop, and how often. There’s no need to hoard, but also no need for everyone to run errands with you. Also consider getting groceries delivered – this limits your household’s own time outside, as well as supports the people of Instacart, Postmates, and the like. Let older/more at-risk people in your community know about this service in case they don’t already, too! Or better yet, offer to grab groceries for them. Sharing is caring. Support workers – whether or not they can work right now If possible, leave larger than usual tips for your delivery people. They are continuing to work in a challenging and uncertain time, and many of their jobs are affected. Or, consider leaving encouraging notes at your doors, we find that any sign of human kindness is appreciated. Don’t forget that many people who normally work in or around your house are now unable to do their jobs. Set up a payment plan or system for your dog walker, house cleaner, gardener, or tutor to help support them during this uncertain time.  What other steps are you taking to support your family and community while staying indoors? Sound off on our social media pages to let us know. Wishing you all good health and safety during this challenging time.

As we continue to navigate the waters of this global health crisis, communities worldwide are all making an effort to flatten the curve. For those of us who are not essential workers, this means practicing social distancing and quarantining at home. And for those looking for more ways to help out from home, there’s still plenty we can do. To help keep homes clean and disinfected, the CDC recommends not using frequently-touched surfaces—or avoiding contact with them altogether. Of course, this is easier said than done, as we all must eventually touch doorknobs, toilets, sinks, etc. There are, however, other areas in the home that can be easily automated to cut down on physical contact and help reduce the spread of germs—and the smart home is helping to make it happen. By adding a new layer of smart home technology to already installed smart home systems, dealers and integrators can help their customers automate their daily routines to help reduce contact with frequently-touched surfaces, like light switches, thermostats, entertainment consoles, and more. TOUCH-FREE AUTOMATION IN THE SMART HOME Most prominently, voice assistants, like Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple Siri, have put the convenience of hands-free smart home control in the grasp of any user who wants it. With just a voice command, users can tell their virtual assistants to adjust smart lights, smart thermostats, connected entertainment, and more, eliminating the need to come into contact with highly trafficked surfaces. However, these smart assistants are still not intelligent enough to pick up every voice command correctly, so users will have to be conscious of their word choice, enunciation, and volume when issuing commands. Of course, there are other ways to go hands-free in the smart home. Motion sensors are another smart home technology that has long been used by smart home fans to control their home’s smart infrastructure. But like virtual assistants, this smart technology isn’t without fault and still leaves large room for error. For instance, motion sensors can be triggered by almost any kind of errant motion, such as that of a wandering pet. So, while motion sensors may be one way to help end-users bring hands-free automation to their homes, these sensors are also opening the door for ‘dumb’ smart home mistakes, e.g., their smart lights may conveniently turn off when they walk out of the room, but they may also unexpectedly turn off when their cat or dog ambles out of the room. HANDS- AND HASSLE-FREE Consider a smart home ecosystem comprising smart lights, smart thermostats, and connected entertainment. Users can control all of these components without coming into contact with frequently-touched surfaces, but they must do so by voicing a command aloud or walking by a motion sensor. And both of these options come with limitations. It is, indeed, possible to attain hands-free automation by outfitting your smart home system with a virtual assistant and/or motion sensors, but the convenience of automation that these devices deliver doesn’t come without hassle. For smart home fans who are looking for a way to truly automate their homes for completely touch-free control without the hassle of temperamental voice assistants or finnicky motion sensors, they need a new kind of smart home technology that can offer a more sophisticated means of control—and dealers and integrators can deliver with presence-sensing technology. Presence-sensing technology (PST) is leading a new trend of fully-automated, hands-free smart home systems. This technology is deployed via a new breed of smart home sensors: the true occupancy automation sensor, which identifies an individual’s specific presence in a room and triggers smart home devices to instantly tune to the individual’s personal preferences—no touch, voice command, or motion sensor required. Presence-sensing technology uses the unique Bluetooth signatures of individuals’ matched smartphones to sense who is and isn’t in which specific room(s) of the house and to then trigger personalized smart home scenes. Unlike virtual assistants or motion sensors, presence-sensing technology enables end-users to control their smart home ecosystem hands-free and voice-free—and without having to worry about your dog or cat tripping the settings. Smart home automation has been a growing trend in the last few years, but now more than ever it has come to the forefront of the industry as a way for people staying at home to do their part to help reduce the spread of germs—and just in time, too, as there has never before been a technology that can deliver automation that’s both hands-free and hassle-free.