HA could really benefit from virtual sessions

[wkearney99]

One that that's bugged me regarding home automation is the lack of a portable/virtual 'session'.
 
It'd be damned handy to be able to 'fling' or otherwise 'move' an active session from one display device to another.  
 
I think a lot of effort goes into trying to use tablets and wall mounts that might be better served it there was a reasonably simple way to move things from one device type to another.  
 
As in, I want to look up some recipes but it's a hassle to do so on the tablet in the kitchen.  $500 tablets and various cooking ingredients are not necessarily compatible.  But there's no easy way to switch a nearby desktop and pick up where you left off on the wall tablet.  Or from a phone, for that matter.
 
This becomes an even bigger set of hassles when you're talking about multi-user scenarios.  I've yet to see any of the tablets or phones do a decent job of swapping user profiles.  
 
The "house" itself is an entity that benefits from having it's own "account".  That and I really don't want to have to log myself into the kitchen tablet and leave my e-mail or other networking accounts connected.  But I would like the option to have a way to easily swap into or otherwise overlay a personal session, without the "house" losing it's session.
 
Just a bit of thinking going on...

 

[pete_c]

Here over the years and in test mode I have virtualized Homeseer and been able to test it connecting it to all of my hardware with no issues.
 
On the console side of things I did also test Linux devices; well specficially Pogo plugs connected to USB Mimo monitors and Chumby's chrooted to run a linux based OS.  I did utilize a windows based touchscreen (well it was Homeseer) and I used multiple terminal sessions on one wintel server to host the touchscreens.  This did work just fine for me.
 
I like to play with different OS's and consoles these days.  That said I did find a touchscreen device that was introduced sort of before its time.  Today I can test Android, Linux and Wintel based touchscreen applications on it just fine.  The change in the OS is as easy is a switch of the boot media.
 
I am also today playing with a modded Samsung tablet which does boot into current MAC iOS, Linux, Android and Windows 8.1 and works just fine.
 
This device will let me decide what it is I like in a console whatever the OS.  Lately looking for pure touchscreen guts and I don't really care much about any specific OS; but rather more what it provides to me in an optimal touchscreen console.
 
Long term I would like to give the automation mothership its own AI personality and utilize a console initially to communicate with it; that might take a while as today folks are just thrilled with using their PDA phones to remote control their automation (sort of behind the times as I already did this in the early 2000's).

 

[mikefamig]

I have a Windows PC that I log into from all of my other devices. I can run a browser or other software on it and log in and out at wil and the software will be there when I want it and where I want it. It also outputs video to two tv's via hdmi cables and serves up photos, video and music via ATT U-verse Media share app to all of the TV set top boxes in my house. You can leave the server running or put it to sleep and wake it again using magic packets sent from other devices. You can also have several users log in at the same time if necessary.
 
I had to spend some time experimenting with different server softwares that would work with both windows and IOS devices and Radmin is free and works with other windows machines but does not send sound to the remote device and VNC and Splashtop work with both Windows and IOS devices. Splashtop is the only one that sends  sound back to the remote device.
 
To sum it up I think that a home network would serve your purpose.
 
Mike.

 

[Dean Roddey]

I think he's talking about not accessing a server, but moving an active session (with all of it's current state intact) to another system. That would be a pretty tricky thing.

 

[wkearney99]

I'm definitely not talking about just a home network or a simple remote desktop.  I have that already and it's not even close to being useful as a home automation assistant.  At least not in an well-integrated sense.
 
Agreed Dean, it's not something trivial.  But if you think about stuff like virtual machines, virtual desktop sessions and even virtual program windows themselves, there's not a lot here that doesn't already exist.  But it's not being "knit together" to address something like this.
 
Way back when I worked on the Newton at Apple I suggested the notion of the house itself needing it's own system.  This was met with blank stares.  Too many of the developers never actually spend any time with anything resembling a home life to appreciate the concept.  Their vision was (and continues to be) dominated by the use of just one device at a time.  I think this is wrong-headed.
 
Meanwhile there's the push toward using subscription-based cloud services.  I really dislike the idea of being on the hook for ever-increasing numbers of services.  Sure, some stuff is worth it.  But not at the risk of exposing all of my information to sales/marketing/advertising scum.  To say nothing of security and privacy invasion issues. 
 
Having a system "at home" which had a more fluid ability to shift across multiple devices could really be useful.  My sessions (might be work, home, etc), ones for my wife, children, etc.  All accessible without having to scramble to find our own devices and force them to login/logout all the time.  It's that 'context switch' penalty that's a real killer.