To the casual observer, one might think Frank Gazda is strange.
He talks to his house.
“Hello House!” Gazda says loudly to the wall.
Even more strange: The house answers.
“What do you want now?” it asks in a computerized monotone.
When Gazda replies, “theater mode,” the hall and the den lights dim until they go out, the stereo gets turned up and the VCR clicks on, bringing up a movie on the big screen in his den.
It’s a simple demonstration, but one that Gazda and Steve White, owners of Applied Future Technologies in Arvada, Colo., use to convince potential clients that they’ve come up with a new home automation system they say is unlike most others.
The system uses existing voice recognition technology and a personal computer to essentially give a homeowner voice control over the electronic devices in a house–lights, security systems, etc.–without the use of a handheld microphone, telephone or intercom. Most other products on the market require handheld equipment, Gazda said.
Applied Future Technologies uses infrared light and microphones placed strategically throughout the house so a person can speak a command from anywhere in the room and transmit it back to the computer, which, using a controller, then follows the command, White said.
It’s an idea he had been toying with as long as six years ago, but White only hooked up with Gazda last year. The two formed their own company while working at Computer Sciences Corp., a Golden-based firm where they worked as computer consultants and computer systems managers.
The pair, who work in the basement of Gazda’s home, also are collaborating with other companies in the home automation industry because their system uses existing technologies. The equipment costs $1,200 to $10,000 and up, they said.
Jim Gregory, a computer consultant at Voice-Recognition Specialists in San Diego, said he’s very interested in their approach. His company installs computer systems with a focus on voice-recognition systems; the systems he uses now require clients, many of whom are disabled, to wear a microphone or sit close to one, he said.
“Convenience is the name of the game from an integrated control standpoint,” said Ken Karnes, president of Golden-based Residential Systems Inc. His company builds integrated residential systems, including consumer electronics and some home automation systems.
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“It needs to be convenient, intuitive, absolutely reliable,” Karnes said. “The ultimate convenience is to be able to talk to your system in everyday voice commands. If (White and Gazda) have that capability, there’s room in the market. So far, I haven’t seen anybody that’s done that.”
There may be other competitors out there who are doing something similar to what White and Gazda are doing, said Charles McGrath, executive director of the Home Automation Association in Washington, D.C.
The home automation market is worth an estimated $2.7 billion, he said.