Chad Barraford is living the dream. Inspired by Edwin Jarvis, the superhero's man-servant turned computer in the film adaptation of Iron Man, the 27 year old Barraford pieced together a digital life assistant, dubbed JARVIS, to keep his household (and life) in order. JARVIS is built on a 4-year-old Mac mini linked to everything from his home lighting/security and RFID entry system (self-built on
Arduino) to his George Foreman grill plugged into his X10 home automation network. JARVIS is always aware of Chad's location (thanks to Google Latitude) and can be controlled in the house via remote control or a wireless mic and the Mac's built-in speech recognition software; or via Twitter and text messages when away. Chad's friends each have their own keychain RFID tags. So does his dog. When his friends are in the house, JARVIS becomes less chatty and doesn't speak any personal information related to his finances or Facebook updates, for example. When the dog comes home JARVIS turns on the lights in the mutt's room. The Chad started the project less than a year ago and cost the man less than $700 in gear. Yes, he hopes to commercialize it. Until then we've got a few choice video selections after the break.
posted April 7th 2010 3:42AM
I don't get why he didn't do voice to text? He's at the 1 yard line with voice recognition not being there.
Hot Dogs on the George Foreman grill...ahh, I remember college...yeah it was kind of lame :)
Matthew Sobol?
I have to agree with some previous posts... using a Voice-to-Text, or pure voice input solution such as Dragon Dictation would make this a home run. The ability to be anywhere in your home and have a set of voice commands to do things like start the grill, turn on or off a TV/light etc...
Great example of "cheap" home automation though.
Sounds like he had a case of explosive diarrhea at the end.
I think I might have to try and create a Paul Bettany voice for it, maybe using the technology that was used for Ebert's new voice. Bettany sounds so perfect in the film, and that slight hint of sarcasm would never get old.
If Bettany is a no-go, I would go with his A Knight's Tale partner in crime, Alan Tudyk. Besides being totally awesome in Firefly, his voice in I,Robot was just awesome.
LOL @ the last couple seconds of the 2nd video... as though he was farting.... LOL!!!!
good innovation btw, and why does engadget recently post these technologies that make us lazier? lol
I swear at 3:02, he says, "So that I can have a minute to get out the CONDOMS". I really wanna know what Jarvis is gonna do with those condoms and hot dogs?!
"I designed Jarvis in lieu of actual human interaction. He quietly waits for me to text him and he doesn't judge me when I cry myself to sleep."
home network (mobile + freeze + micro oven + door + lights + tv + aduio player....)
(home network)-----------> connected with mobile
Send message to the home network by mobile (commands)
open door-----> door open
close door----->door closed
lights on------->lights on
seriously impressive stuff though, its creative thinking like that which leads to bigger and better things. I think our man would be the first to agree that this isn't the final product, and with the huge potential this guy has with this system, im sure he'll go far. Jokes aside, well done mate.
Why he had to fart on camera in the end? Can't he just hold it for some seconds? Shh,gross
it has potential
a little voice recognition and it could actually be useful for some things around the house.
i would love to have my lights, appliances, thermostat, etc be hooked up to a system where i can wirelessly control them.
Demon Seed.
...or...not.
BUT BUT JARVIS COULD BUILT ANY CRAZY SHIT TONY ASKED FOR! WHERE ARE YOUR ROBOTIC ARMS YOU FAKER???!
Joking, anyway, neat idea but if you're going to sell it better target it to the pro scene and no-one else.
Sure at $700 is less than 2 roombas, but you're not counting labor and you need more skills to make this than say change your oil filter or make your own PC.
If you hire anyone then the price would skyrocket, like it happens with any home automation system