Gary Vaynerchuk visited a wine bar in NYC called CLO which features a pretty cool interactive menu system. There are projectors mounted in the ceiling which project what looks like a Flash application onto the white bar tops and using an infrared sensor, it tracks your hand/finger for navigation. Check out the video of the system in action at about 1:40 — it’s also a great wine review to boot!
Now this great use of technology, however, I wonder how useful it is when the bar is jam packed?
There are two products that have come to my attention that can come in handy for people trying to distribute HD content over the coax as a Digital cable (QAM) channel inserted onto any empty channel. The products are by a company called Zeevee. The first product is called the ZvBox 100 bundle which includes:
This allows you to take any video from a VGA source (say a computer monitor output) and broadcast it via coax to any empty digital cable channel. The remote allows you to control your computer so even if the source is in a remote part of your home, you can still control the mouse as if you were locally. The ZeeVee ZvBox 100 Bundle
sells for $399.
The ZvBox 150 has the same capabilities as the ZvBox 100 but it also adds the ability to plug in any component HD video source as well. You can combine many ZvBoxes to distribute many HD channels in your location, on the same simple coax cabling. Once configured, the ZvBox 150, no computer or Internet connection required. A quick google search reveals that the ZvBox 150 is priced higher than the ZvBox 100, at around $1000.
Depending on your situation these two products can be the answer all your HD cable distribution/modulation needs — definitely check these products out!
If you are sitting pretty well financially in these times then why not stimulate the economy by purchasing a Meridian Sooloos Control 10 ($5000)? Meridian is known for their audiophile speakers and processors and now have gotten into the digital media space thanks to the purchase of Sooloos. The Sooloos System is made up of a storage unit, a playback unit and an interface device which together give you greater quality and control over your digital media. The Control 10 is one of the many ways to control the system and offers a 17″ LCD touchscreen that displays your media in an intuitive way. You can also access the system via a web browser, iPhone/Touch and Crestron system.
For more information about the Control 10 and Meridian’s Sooloos Media System click here.
Meridian Sooloos – Get In Touch With Your Music
HAI has announced that they have released a suite of new IP enabled products. All but the camera server are now shipping.
Here is a list of everything:
I am primarily excited about the HAI Camera Server as this might be a cost-effective IP server (vs. Axis 241Q) that will work with Myro:Home!
– HAI Launches IP-Based Entertainment Product Suite
I’m currently investigating what I need to get Water & Gas (Natural) monitoring added to my home. I already have Power via Energy Inc’s TED 1001 & Myro:Home. However, it would be nice to add Water & Gas to the mix so I can monitor and control its usage. Currently, I’m checking out different flow meters from Flow Monitors Inc. Anyone have any other brands that have an output that I could rig/modify/extend? The nice thing about the CoolPoint line is that they offer outputs that I can use to interface with my automation controller.
Universal Flow Monitors – CoolPoint CP Series Water Flow Meters
I’ve been testing an Olimex PIC-WEB Ethernet Web PIC Development Board for a bit now and this little board comes in handy for projects that need quick web access. The PIC-WEB offers a very small but powerful webserver based on the PIC 18F452. The development board has everything you need to serve web pages with 1 megabit storage on board! I also have an Arduino with an eShield which I will be testing next!
Available from SparkFun Eletronics.
