Developer demos slick DroidKC home automation using Android Wear

Is was bound to happen, and it looks like it’s here. On the day that the first Android Wear device began shipping and only a few days after Google I/O attendees were given a free device themselves, one developer has demoed a home automation system using an Android Wear smartwatch to control it. And even more interestingly, it runs on Android applications that are already on the Play Store.

In the embedded video below you’ll find developer Doug Gregory (who seems to be associated with DCK Automation based on the video watermark) using the well-known “Ok Google” hotwords paired with commands like “toggle living room lamp,” but also more natural sayings like “turn off the lamp” which can accomplish the same tasks. Also shown in the video is a card on the Android Wear device (in this case the Samsung Gear Live) displaying some information about the current status of the home:

While it appears that voice control works perfectly well in these early versions of the “AutoApps,” Gregory also demos an on-screen interface for controlling household items. He flips through toggles for switching on and off the lights and opening and closing the garage door. Each screen has a background showing exactly what it is the user is toggling, and like the one you can see above, there are cards that show the current status of each item.

As he says in the YouTube description:

I was fortunate enough to spend a day with Android Wear ahead of its launch and immediately took to adapting the wearable to our powerful home automation solution. Special thanks to Nathan Schwermann at OneLouder in Kansas City for giving up his Google I/O Samsung Gear Live for a day.

Lucky me, Android Wear works out of the box with the AutoApps including AutoVera, AutoVoice, and AutoNotification. To pass the voice command back to Android, root access is required with the Xposed Google Search API module enabled. We’ll need to wait until launch to seek alternate access to voice commands, but the demonstrated method is obviously ideal.

Luckily for us, Gragory also lists the hardware and software he used to accomplish this feat. Along with a long list of his own in-house developed apps like AutoVera, AutoNotification, and AutoVoice (which all plug in to Tasker), he used a DKC AutoVera Starter Pack (which contains 2 Z-Wave Modules and 5 NFC Tags), and an HTC One.

It appears that Gregory had to use a couple of workarounds to get the current apps working, but while he works out getting them updated for prime time, be sure to check out the video:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VpOg8TKVJE]