Category: Technology News

Room Locator now makes it possible to control smart home devices in individual rooms automatically

Room Locator is a smart motion detector that triggers smart home actions when entering or leaving a room.

Munich, March 6, 2017 – Room Locator by LinkDesk is the smart motion detector that controls smart home devices simply upon entering or leaving a room. A smartphone or tablet uses Bluetooth to recognize Room Locator and on doing so, triggers preselected actions. When combined with the iOS app “Devices”, it enables HomeKit devices to be easily managed, conveniently linked, and simultaneously controlled. An IFTTT connection provides additional application options when used with additional smart home devices and online services. 

Download Pictures | Video | www.linkdesk.com

The facts at a glance:

• Room Locator is the smart motion detector that makes it possible to control smart home devices automatically, when entering and leaving a room
• A smartphone or tablet recognizes Room Locator via Bluetooth and triggers programmed actions
• It manages, links to and controls HomeKit devices, thanks to the intuitive “Devices” app (iOS 9.0 or later)
• An IFTTT connection makes it possible to link additional smart home products and online services
• Suitable for room sizes between 10 and 40 square meters
• Compact design: 5,1 centimetres in diameter and 1,2 centimetres deep
• Weight: 19 grams
• Battery-powered with a service life of two years
• Items delivered: Room Locator including battery
• The Room Locator is now available for €29.95 in stores and online on Amazon and other retailers

The room as a control unit

Early in the morning, upon entering the kitchen, the light goes on immediately, the heat is turned up, the radio is switched on, and the coffee machine is already brewing coffee. This scenario has been triggered simply by an inconspicuously mounted motion detector. Working in conjunction with the “Devices” iOS app, the Room Locator by LinkDesk has automatically turned on HomeKit devices to increase comfort inside the four walls of the kitchen. Upon entering the room, the iPhone or other Apple device has recognized the smart motion detector via Bluetooth and automatically triggered programmed actions. It is just as easy to define what is supposed to happen upon leaving the room.

The Room Locator is optimized for room sizes between 10 and 40 square meters, is battery-operated, and can be mounted anywhere in the room using the adhesive pad that comes with it.

Intuitive app for the operation of HomeKit devices

The “Devices” app by LinkDesk was specially designed for managing and controlling HomeKit devices. It provides an organized overview and an intuitive user interface. HomeKit-enabled lamps, electric sockets, thermostats, and many other devices can be logically grouped and allocated to individual rooms. By establishing scenes, the actions of these devices can be networked and controlled simultaneously. The Room Locator triggers the relevant scene in each case. In order to optimally match smart home activities to individual needs, additional settings such as time or the status of particular devices can be set as conditions. For example, the light is only switched on if the room is entered after a certain hour. Or the baby monitor is only activated after leaving the room if the night light was left on.

IFTTT opens up even more possibilities of usage

With an IFTTT connection, the Room Locator can be combined not just with HomeKit products but also with other smart home devices and online services. With simple if-then commands, the smart door lock can lock the front door, for example, as soon as the entry area is left. Or, when you enter and leave your home office, the time you spent working is automatically recorded in a document and filed online.

Availability and price

The Room Locator by LinkDesk is now available in stores and online at Amazon at a price of €29.95.

LinkDesk

LinkDesk is a future-oriented startup, founded in 2014 in Munich. The company’s goal is to simplify significantly the use of modern smart home technologies, and thus enable a particularly intuitive kind of smart home best suited to everyday life. The young developer team has put lots of love into its software and hardware solutions, offering users an unusually simple and yet outstanding user experience. www.linkdesk.com

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This YouTube video creator feels that efforts like hers are becoming increasingly important for people with the skin condition.

Every Sunday and Thursday, Rosy JulieBC adds another video to her YouTube channel, in part because she believes social media sharing is among the best resources rosacea patients have. This chronic skin condition is currently incurable and effective treatments are few and far between.

That said, despite the fact that there are millions of rosacea sufferers, even reliable information is scarce.

“It’s incredible,” said the blogger and YouTube creator, whose real name is Julie B. Campbell. “Aside from a basic description of what rosacea actually is, the information available online and even through many doctors is thin. As a rosacea patient, it’s very frustrating. As soon as we’re diagnosed, our lives become a never-ending trial-and-error session for skin care and lifestyle products and techniques.”

As a result, Rosy JulieBC feels that social media sharing will be the road to a rosacea cure. “Honestly, I don’t know if rosacea will ever be cured. Nobody even knows what causes it. There are a lot of theories – from autoimmune disorders to mites and even to unique adaptations to colder climates with dark winters – but even the experts don’t know anything for certain. That said, I’ve learned a lot more through other rosacea patients than through official sources. The two have been vital to creating a more complete picture of how I should treat my skin.”

When Campbell wasn’t able to find the information she needed online, she took to social media sharing.

It began with a blog, now titled Rosacea Treatment Options with Rosy JulieBC. As a writer and novelist, Campbell felt comfortable expressing herself through regular written posts. She decided that it was time the web offered some information to rosacea sufferers that wasn’t either too vague or trying to sell something.

“If you try Googling information about what products you should use on rosacea prone skin, you’re inundated with ‘cures.’ It’s all so misleading. I certainly don’t have any answers and I’m not a skin care expert, but I feel I can provide something unique with my blog. I can talk about my experience, try new things and track them with images.”

According to Campbell, she never really expected it to amount to much. When she first started writing, she didn’t know how many people had rosacea. She’d never met another sufferer before – or so she thought. “Not long after I started writing [the blog] people started coming out of the woodwork. People I knew, sure, but mostly people I didn’t know, and they were from countries around the world. They were all thanking me for sharing my story because they were going through similar struggles with their rosacea and with finding information. Every time I received another message, I’d cry. It was so moving but so heartbreaking! Why are there so many of us and yet there doesn’t seem to be much in terms of unbiased and truly usable information we can apply to helping ourselves?”

It wasn’t until Campbell had a bad reaction to a sunscreen she’d previously successfully used that she started posting videos on YouTube. “I’d always said that I’d never put a video of myself on YouTube. I have social anxiety disorder and that sounded like a fast path to a panic attack. But when I had a rosacea-flare up from the sunscreen, words simply couldn’t express my frustration. I needed to talk directly to the people who had been reading my blog.”

It was through YouTube that the Rosy JulieBC name was born and that’s where she discovered the power of social media sharing. Likes and comments were posted on a regular basis and Campbell broadened her Rosy JulieBC presence to include Facebook, Twitter and, more recently, Instagram.

“I’ve also started using features on various social networks such as private discussion pages on Facebook. They are very useful for sharing information with other rosacea sufferers in a kind of safe space without judgment. We share pictures of both our flare-ups and our victories when we clear our skin. We talk about different DIY mask ideas, and we pitch ideas about the impact of water hardness, various supplements and even alternative techniques such as dry skin brushing. Social media posting gives us the opportunity to exchange notes, share research and articles we’ve found and talk about our own experiences.

“It’s similar to the forum participation I have at places like the TalkHealth Partnership, which I love. I feel as though all these resources come together to create a pretty solid body of knowledge. As soon as I come across a topic I want to experiment with or learn more about, it becomes my next YouTube video or blog post.”

Social media has, according to Campbell, offered a great deal of freedom to learn and talk to people without judgment while making it easier to avoid scammers who are continually trying to peddle their snake oil to rosacea suffers who are desperate for something to work.

Over time she has created an active and supportive community she calls her Rosy Friends. “Rosacea is one of those conditions we just don’t talk about. Most of us work hard to cover it up, not to try to tell people we have it. Because of that, social media sharing gives us the chance to talk to people but from the safety of our own computers or mobile devices. Social media has placed me in contact with hundreds of Rosy Friends from around the globe. We exchange support, ideas and ask questions. Before blogging, YouTube and the other platforms, I may still have been under the impression that I don’t know a single person with the condition.”

That, says Campbell, is why she feels social media sharing is key for rosacea patients being able to find the right skin care routine, treatment, and trigger avoidance routine for their unique needs. “If a rosacea cure ever does happen – and, who knows, it might – it’s going to start with those of us with the rosy cheeks.”