1966-1967 ECHO IV and the Kitchen Computer was two of the pioneers of Smart Devices. ECHO IV was the first smart device, even though it was never sold. This machine could compute shopping list, control home’s temperature and turn appliances on and off. The Kitchen Computer was developed a year later and could store recipes, but unfortunately, there were no sold models. The fourth ECHO, or Electronic Computing Home Operator, was the first device created with the idea of home automation in mind. Built in 1966, it needed lots of room to operate, 3kw (3000 watts) of power to run, and plenty of technical know-how to use. Also ‘Lots of room’ would be an understatement! Computers back then needed entire rooms or sometimes could occupy an entire floor. James Sutherland, an ECHO IV engineer, stated, “it looked more like the home was built to house the computer instead of the other way around.” It was composed of four cabinets weighing 800 pounds! All that mass and the CPU clocked in at ...
The concept of home automation has been around for a long time, especially in science-fiction that imagined future homes being completely automated and robots helping us with household chores. The technology hasn't been available to make these fantasies into reality. It was the year 1898. Nicolas Tesla was standing at the New York's Madison Square Garden with a crowd of intellectuals surrounding him. The crowd was watching him maneuver a mini toy boat in a pool of water using a transmitter control box. He was even able to flash its running lights on and off, all without any visible connection between the boat and controller. Few people at the time were aware that radio waves even existed and Tesla, an inventor often known to electrify the crowd with his creations, was pushing the boundaries yet again, with his remote-controlled vessel. Tesla believed that one day we may be able to endow a machine with its "own mind," where it, too, can act on environmental st...