Home automation is fun, but being able to turn your lights on and off from your computer isn't really all that practical compared to a good ol' fashioned light switch... until now.

what I propose is a watch that detects which way your arm is pointing, it also has a small mic inside that recognises when you click your fingers. Just point at an appliance and click your fingers, the watch relays the information back to the computer which turns the appliance on or off.

some ideas to achieve this (feel free to add your own or elaborate)

1. blue tooth enabled watch with directional and location capabilities

or

2. tight beam infra-red with receivers at each appliance
-- greyfiend, Jun 12 2006

(?) A Sixth Sense for a Wired World http://www.wired.co...logy/0,71087-0.html
Apparently a magnet (it should be humyn non-immunoreactive) can interface between your peripheral nervous system and the wonderful world of electricity [LoriZ, Jun 12 2006]

If more appliances just offered a bluetooth interface, the user would be free to use whatever device is convenient for them. That could include a watch, phone, remote, PDA, whatever.
-- ed, Jun 12 2006


I don't know how to click my fingers.
-- BJS, Jun 12 2006


good thinking, that small light on each appliance, means you can turn things on in the dark too.
-- greyfiend, Jun 12 2006


A universal remote?
-- Texticle, Jun 13 2006


Print an infra-red visible barcode on the devices and have a laser barcode scanner in the device
-- BunsenHoneydew, Jun 13 2006


perhaps the watch could also incorporate a roll detector, so you can turn volume,dimmers etc up and down by twisting your hand clockwise or anticlockwise in the air.
-- greyfiend, Jul 18 2006


[BJS] can you whistle?
-- greyfiend, Jul 18 2006



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