Control4 Connects Smart Car and Smart Home

The world in which our smart cars drive us to and from our smart homes isn’t here just quite yet, but Control4 is already doing its part to make that smart home living dream come true.

Control4 used a doll-house-size home display song in conjunction with an Android phone and a Toyota vehicle display head unit to demonstrate a proof-of-concept smart home app that will enable single-button, one-touch control of a smart home from the driver’s seat without requiring the driver to take his or her eyes off the road (or driveway) ahead. Just as he or she would in a home outfitted with a Control4 system, anything from simple actions to complicated, multi-step activities involving lights, locks, garage doors, and thermostats can be initiated from a car featuring such integration.

To accomplish this, Control4 decided to use SmartDeviceLink (SDL), an open-source software designed specifically to integrate Internet functionality into vehicles, to unite smart home functionality with connected cars. Since the demonstration at CES was only a proof-of-concept, there’s no word yet on availability or pricing.

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