There are at least two factors that triggered research and development into home and entertainment automation in the 1980s and afterwards.

One was the realisation that oil would not be endlessly available, requiring us to be more energy efficient in transport – and at home.

This triggered research into energysaving devices such as smarter heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems; remote monitoring; and metering of electricity and gas consumption. (Smart metering was also pushed by utilities in a bid to reduce the enormous cost of teams manually checking electricity, gas and water meters).

Another factor was the emergence of better communications networks based on fibre optic cables, which offered faster delivery of content to customers’ premises.

For instance, France had a dualtechnology network in the early 1990s, using fibre between nodes/exchanges and coaxial cable to the end user. The exchanges were all digital by then and cable TV was provided through that network.

This was all happening before the internet revolution.

About the same time, France Telecom decided to invest in an electronic phone directory and developed the Minitel, a device that would be the kernel of almost all services to the end user well before anybody could afford a personal computer.

This crude but smart enough device was free to subscribers, on the reasoning that it would eventually be cheaper than printing phone directories.

Then television sets got bigger and flatter, and video projectors – once confined to big corporate boardrooms – started to grace the bosses’ homes, and the term ‘home theatre’ was coined.

Other products followed the same course, such as AMX and Crestron touch screens and control systems, as well as Lutron dimmers and automatic shades.

TERMINOLOGY

The term ‘home automation’ inadequately covers a wide range of systems and technologies.

Most systems have their origin, hence their strengths, in a particular sector – security systems, HVAC, lighting control, audio/visual control, etc.

As far as I know, there is nothing that integrates all these aspects into one system, using a common and practical user interface (also referred to as a GUI, or graphical user interface), with equal levels of features and benefits for each sub-system.

There will be no real ‘house of the future’ or proper home automation until somebody with broad knowledge of each sector comes up with a supervisor system that can talk to several subsystems in an open way and at an affordable cost.

One such opportunity is beginning to emerge with the widespread use of tablets and large library of applications, with some companies designing apps with these objectives in mind.

But let’s have a quick look at some of the pioneers’ products that once revolutionised the market.

Some have disappeared due to a small market at the time or unforeseen technological change rendering them obsolete almost overnight. Others have managed to evolve and become the reference in today’s market.

HOME MANAGER

In 1983, Unity Systems in Redwood City, California, introduced the granddaddy of home control systems – Home Manager – featuring the first touch screen automation system for the residential market.

Well known for its rock-solid reliability (about 6,000 of them are still working), the Home Manager featured many of the elements we see in highend control systems today. The system’s claim to fame was advanced HVAC control with modulating dampers, integrated security and some lighting and appliances control via power line communication (PLCs).

The company was one of the original CEBus developers and a leader in utility demand side management.

Unity Systems was sold to Invensys in 1999.

AUDIOACCESS

In 1987 Audioaccess was founded from the custom installation company Phoenix Systems, one of the pioneers in the design and installation of wholehouse audio systems and still active in the industry.

The installation company recognised the special needs of clients for easily used, high-quality and functional systems.

The first products introduced by Audioaccess were the PX-4 and PX-6 multi-room control systems. These allowed a home owner to access and control audio components from any location in the house with an elegant keypad. It was a marked improvement over simple volume controls or very expensive customised solutions.

Audioaccess, which went on to design other products, was sold to Harman International in 1993. Madrigal Audio Laboratories managed it from 1996, then JBL from 2003. Amplifier Technologies Incorporated bought the business in 2010 with the view to revitalising the brand and introducing new products.

Audioaccess is a real success story in entertainment systems.

GRAFIK-EYE

Joel Spira and wife Ruth founded Lutron in 1959 after he developed the first solid-state dimmer in a makeshift lab in their New York City apartment.

Lutron’s headquarters in Coopersburg, Pennsylvania, is a tribute to their success.

In almost 50 years of innovation, the company has developed hundreds of lighting control devices and systems, expanding the product offering from two to 15,000. In 1990, Lutron revolutionised the lighting control market again with the introduction of the Grafik-Eye, a selfcontained programmable bank of up to six dimmers.

It was capable of switching and/or dimming all popular light sources of the time – incandescent, low voltage, neon and fluorescent – down to 1% without flicker. Features included 16 memories (scenes), infrared control and an internal clock.

Now in its second generation, the Grafik-Eye QS sells for $2,500 in Australia, making it one of the most affordable single-room, multi-channel dimming systems on the market.

BEOLINK 1000

Behind the polished brand image of Bang & Olufsen’s timeless icon there has been a chain of innovations that are often forgotten.

In 1985, the then 60-year-old Danish company introduced the first remote control capable of managing sound, image and (later) lights in one sturdy and elegant package.

It had multiroom capabilities from the onset and became the favourite system of interior designers throughout Europe and then the world. In one sense, it had some of the benefits and limitations experienced by Apple, as it is a closed system and controls all B&O products – but only those products.

MINITEL

The Minitel, rolled out throughout France in 1982 by the precursor of France Telecom, was a videotex online service accessible over telephone lines.

It was considered one of the world’s most successful online services preceding the World Wide Web.

From the early days, Minitel users could make online purchases and train reservations, check stock prices, search the telephone directory, have a mailbox and ‘chat’.

In February 2009, the Minitel network still had 10 million monthly connections, among which a million were on 3611 (directory). The service was closed on 30 June 2012.

Millions of terminals were lent free of charge to telephone subscribers, resulting in a high penetration among businesses and the public.

France Telecom estimated that almost nine million terminals, including web-enabled personal computers, had access to the network at the end of 1999, and that it was used by 25 million people in a population of 60 million.

This high penetration inspired a large number of start-ups to design simple home automation solutions – mainly security and appliance control via PLCs.