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Sometimes we land in the papers or have some exciting industry news and technology to share. Here’s what we and the smart technology arena have been up to. TURNING YOUR HOME INTELLIGENT
An intelligent home, as the description implies, is an abode where one is able to excercise varying degrees of control with a simple push of a button as you enter the place. It may sound like something out of a science fiction movie but this is real thanks in part to the Internet, optic fibre technology and PCOM Pacific Sdn Bhd (PCOM).
As the savant leader of such technology in Malaysia, PCOM is set to firmly place this incresingly important aspect of home entertainment at the palm of your hands.
At the centre of this rapidly expanding, affluent technology is PCOM’s new chief executive officer Guven Togan who believes that this will be the new lifestyle for home & building owners.
“Since high speed connectivity is affordable and readily available for any modern home, a lot of the Internet Protocol devices are now able to communicate with each other instead of individually,” said Togan.
With a vision to provide integrated connectivity solutions to modernise home living, there is no end to customising possibilities for your lights, audio and visual.
“Just look at a modern home entertainment system. It is ideally suited for intelligence integration making the operational process that much more responsive. Imagine walking into your room and the lights automatically tone down, windows go down, and the TV and hifi systems turn on. All you need to do is to sit back and select what you want from a video server or any similarly set up programmed source,” added Togan.
PCOM’s expertise in total intelligent home solution includes working with AV hardware of practically every known brand.
“With our expertise, we can even help home owners set up something simple like a touch-less system. This means that the house can sense, think and make the decision itself based on the use of sensors,” said Togan.
From there, Togan explained that home owners can even set up different mood selection for the house with the push of a button.
“If for example when guests arrives at your house, you only need to push a button to activate the lights as well as TV to entertain your guests. The customisation possibilities are endless and limited by the imaginations of the home owner,” said Togan.
While admittedly catering to a niche, upmarket five years ago, Intelligent Home today is one of the fastest growing segment of the home entertainment industry says Togan who points out that the bulk of today’s modern and luxurious homes all include, varying degrees of home intelligence.
“Right now, it is estimated there are 20 to 30 per cent of new house owners who seek some form of intelligent operation in their homes,” said Togan.
As technology gets more affordable, consumers with funds to spare as well as property developers are including fibre connection inside their homes.
In a nutshell, this is the core objectives of PCOM – to help Malaysia home owners achieve as high a level of Intelligent Home as possible for a more enriched lifestyle.
“Personally, I am proud to be heading a technologically forward thinking company, backed up by a team of industry experts who are pioneering and expanding this exciting new business here in Malaysia,” said Togan. PCOM GREEN HOUSE – STYLISH TECH
Within this three-storey energy-efficient buiding, technology is used as an element of design for its interior spaces.
As you enter PCOM’s headquarters designed by NLIM Design & Associates, the entire space welcomes you with a sense of innovation. Here, the designers have engaged a cutting edge concept to ensure that the interior space of this office building is designed to work hand-in-hand with the company’s automation and connectivity solutions.
At the ground level’s lobby area, the main wall painted in green employes the angled concept to separate the reception area from the showroom. At the reception area, the designer creted a zig-zag lighting strip within the ceiling, and then mirrored the same angled pattern in the showroom in the form of a drop-down pendant light.
For the second level, the combination of steel pipes, sleek material and triangular motifs results in an industrial look. Towards the ceiling, the designer has also used the angled concept to incorporate the lighting system. Other details include bright prints and colours complementing different surfaces to make the workplace more productive. SMART HOMES – WHAT'S IT LIKE LIVING IN ONE?
Envision yourself reclining on a plush sofa, while your every need is attended to and every whim is catered to by someone else, like the masters and mistresses of Victorian households of old. Although butlers, valets and lady’s maids are almost non-existent in households today, latest home automation technology has allowed us to enjoy the services of a virtual Jeeves, who can accomplish more and much faster.
The technology has come far since the remote control became a fixture on our coffee tables; according to K.C. Lim of PCOM, provider of HOMEX, the next generation smart home that redefines modern living in 21st century Malaysia, the term “smart homes” encompasses more than just home gadgets switching on and off by themselves.
‘The home can only rightly earn the appellation when it anticipates and behaves the way you want it to, without any effort on your part,’ he says. ‘The home should transform accordingly without the touch, or at most, just one touch of a button to simplify and enhance your lifestyle.’ The “button” refers to one on a sophisticated touchscreen wall panel or, with the prevalence of wireless connectivity nowadays, on a tablet or smartphone.
K.C. practises what he preaches; his 10,000 sq ft home is outfitted with the latest smart home technology. ‘There are close to two hundred control switches in my house,’ he said, conveying that a system integrating all the devices in his home is a necessity.
‘Smart home technology has to be exceedingly easy to use or, for want of a better term, idiot-proof. The AV room, for instance, is a shared space used by different members of the household for various functions – to watch movies, sing karaoke, listen to music or play video games – and each requires different lighting intensity, and may or may not require the projector screen or window blinds to be lowered; these settings can be pre-programmed into the system. My elderly mother-in-law or my youngest child, who is only 10, simply has to touch a button and the room transforms into whichever ambiance that is ideal to watch their favourite channel or to play a game.
‘When I have guests coming over, I do not have to run all over to prepare the house; if I did, I would be exhausted before they even arrived! But simply with the touch of a button, the fountain comes alive, the porch light illuminates and television screens affixed throughout the house flicker on to display pictures.’
He adds, ‘I admit, it is not only about convenience; when you have friends visiting your home, you’d want to impress them too.’
William Wong, whose company 7Sense Intelligent has worked with property developers to integrate smart home systems into their projects, also believes that the definition of “smart” has altered rapidly in recent years. ‘It’s like how we perceived our smartphones when the technology was at its infancy and how we use our smartphones today. Our smartphones now perform important functions in our lives beyond just making calls, but also grant efficiency and enhance our social lives.
‘Likewise, a smart home should do more than automating lights, aircons, home security features, etc; these are a given. I believe the technology can now be used further to bring the community closer.’ A valid point, considering that more and more people are moving into high-rise properties or gated communities with shared spaces and facilities. William demonstrates how each home can access a smart home app via tablet or smartphone to make facility bookings or receive bulletins from the management; parents can also access the CCTV cameras in the public areas to periodically check on their children who are playing there. If required, the platform can also be used to communicate with neighbours; for instance, to seek out others with similar hobbies and interests.
‘A smart home system benefits not only large homes, as most people would assume, but smaller homes as well,’ says William.
One such ‘small home’ resident is Low, a technopreneur who lives in a 1,500 sq ft condominium unit in Penang. Incidentally, 7Sense was the company which outfitted his residence. ‘It’s great,’ Low enthuses. ‘I travel occasionally for work, and I can remotely switch the lights on or off, disarm or arm the alarm and receive urgent notices even when I’m thousands of miles away.
‘When I’m home and I sometimes feel like playing tennis, I can check the availability of the courts from the comfort of my living room.’
Although he lives alone for the most part, his parents would often visit and stay for long stretches of time. ‘They only know how to use the intercom, but I can easily access the entire system from my office. If, say, the alarm is triggered or an electricity outage occurs, I’m notified immediately via the app and can call my parents to check if they are okay. That’s reassuring.’
A shopping mall will be erected adjacent to Low’s residence in the near future; there are plans to incorporate retail promotions for the residents into the e-bulletin then, another instance of using the technology for community integration.
According to William, with the availability of common communications protocols like Z-Wave, which was designed specifically for home automation, smart home technology will continue to incorporate more and more gadgets, and even wearable technology. ‘Giant tech companies like Apple, Samsung and Google have also invested in developing their own protocols. With these in place, countless smart home innovations will inevitably emerge from third-party app and product developers.’
K.C. believes that home automation technology will follow the route of other forms of technology, which ‘starts with commercial applications, crosses over to residential applications, and then goes on to permeate the community’. He says, ‘The existing technology is already capable of every possible convenience you can imagine. Want to call for the lift whilst you’re still putting on your shoes? Easy. Want to order groceries from your kitchen and have the neighbourhood supermarket receive and deliver your order. Can be done.
‘What’s next is the technology will be utilised to make living in the community much more efficient and convenient. Take the Google self-driving car, for example; it’s another form of smart technology that has created a car so intelligent that it gets you to your destination with very minimal effort on your part.’
Meanwhile, K.C. and Low are very contented to, after a busy day at work, return to a home with lights blazing and aircons blasting to welcome them. ‘I enter my master bedroom, and cool air and soothing jazz music greet me,’ says K.C.
Low’s shares a similar sentiment. ‘It’s already very late when I reach home, and I simply do not want to do anything, not even fiddle with switches.’ He envisions the ultimate smart home: ‘I wish to be like Ironman; when he lands on his pad, his gear is dismantled by automatons; and JARVIS, the artificial intelligence “butler” takes care of everything else. Tony Stark never has to lift a finger.’
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