CastleOS - new home automation software with Kinect voice control

[electron]

I'll have to get my hands on a Kinect when they go on sale, and give this a sho(u)t.

 

[Craer]

I don't see any Z-Wave support. Am I just missing it?

 
 

Coming in about a month!

 
 
Its been over a month, so just curious where you are at on this?  It's the only thing preventing me from testing this system.

 

[ChrisCicc]

Its been over a month, so just curious where you are at on this?  It's the only thing preventing me from testing this system.

 
On pace for March release. We just put out Beta 2 last night, which includes bug fixes for all known bugs, support for the SmartLinc and Hub, a completely rewritten installation package (with auto updating coming in the next release), support for international speakers from the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada (both VR and TTS), and several other improvements throughout the system. 

 

[Craer]

On pace for March release. We just put out Beta 2 last night, which includes bug fixes for all known bugs, support for the SmartLinc and Hub, a completely rewritten installation package (with auto updating coming in the next release), support for international speakers from the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada (both VR and TTS), and several other improvements throughout the system. 

 
I assume the March release will also be a beta release?  Giving z-wave users the same 75% off msrp deal before it goes live may 1'st?
 
Ill install the new beta tonight just to get a feel for it since you seem to be close to supporting z-wave.

 

[ChrisCicc]

I assume the March release will also be a beta release?  Giving z-wave users the same 75% off msrp deal before it goes live may 1'st?
 
Ill install the new beta tonight just to get a feel for it since you seem to be close to supporting z-wave.

 
We won't be leaving beta until Z-Wave is added. While we've fixed all known bugs to this point, we're leaving it in beta until our core functionality is complete. We figured if Google could do it for years, what's another month or two 

 

[elvisimprsntr]

The evil empire strikes again. New kinect has a proprietary connector.


http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/06/microsoft-kinect-for-xbox-one-will-not-work-on-pcs/

 

[ChrisCicc]

The evil empire strikes again. New kinect has a proprietary connector. http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/06/microsoft-kinect-for-xbox-one-will-not-work-on-pcs/

 
Technically, so does the current one. Kinects that come with current Xbox 360s have a proprietary connector that requires a third party adapter to work with PCs. Also, the same licensing restrictions are in place on the current Kinect as well. Personally, I think the benefits of the new Kinect for our application will FAR outweigh any potential drawbacks. 

 

[damage]

Also, any DIY person wanting voice recognition will use Tasker and AutoVoice on their Android smartphone.  This works for virtually any system that accepts URL based commands as it uses Tasker to do an HTTP Get.  I do this for similar functionality to what's in your videos, but I'm using free HA software (that supports z-wave and many more technologies) along with my smart phone.  Since AutoVoice uses Google Voice search, it is highly accurate and has always worked for me.

 
how many autovoice profiles do you have to create be able to turn one light on or off or dim from 0-100% in 10% increments?

 

[damage]

PS:  I just set this up this week, so if you know of a better way to do it, please share!

 
i don't use autovoice.  it seemed like too much manual labor which you confirmed for me.  i use sl4a + python and server side processing to do this.

 

[damage]

see my blog below.  there's a sample script to run on the phone and some code bits for other things.

 

[damage]

I'm glad I asked you!  This is a much easier approach versus using Tasker and AutoVoice.
 
http://www.doghouselabs.com/downloads/recognize.py
 
Thanks

 
it's for the most part the similar since the parsing gets done on the phone.  it's better to do the parsing on the server, where you have access to device databases and status. that's left as an exercise for the reader.  

 

[ChrisCicc]

Hey Folks!
 
Just wanted to pass along note that as of September 1st, CastleOS has left beta and is officially for sale. As a reminder, anyone who signed up during the beta period can purchase CastleOS for $49.99, which is 75% off the regular price of $199.99. Several much-awaited features are included, such as the ability to plug up to 10 Kinects into a single computer.
 
We've also launched a complete hardware store, with pricing that beats both Amazon and Smarthome on INSTEON products. And we now have our own mini computer for running CastleOS, the voice control, Windows Media Center, internet video players, etc. What's special about our mini computer is that it's 4" by 4" by 2" tall! That's nearly 50% smaller than the Mac Mini! No home automation hardware on the market offers that much power in such a compact form. You can also customize it to add some additional horsepower if needed.
 
Thank you!
 
-Chris

 

[az1324]

The Intel NUC includes preinstalled CastleOS?

 

[ChrisCicc]

CastleOS is installed though not licensed. It also includes Ceton drivers, Chrome, a couple utilities, and a few other drivers out of the box. Everything you need to get started using it as an automation controller or HTPC is included. 

 

[az1324]

Ah ok not as good of a deal then.  You should explicitly state that in the product description.