Gui for H/A?

[tbowmo]

Been thinking about creating a gui for my coming H/A system, as I want an "Easy to use system, that even a 4 year old could figure out"

Currently I have dazzled with domoticz, and also Pidome (it was a year ago though). But I don't see that their UI's is easy to understand, for non technical persons.

What I would like to have, is some kind of activity based GUI on a tablet / phone.. Like "Watch TV" then the TV, amplifiers etc. turns on. A GUI pops up asking what you want to watch on the TV (channels, dvd, chromecast etc). In that mode you can turn the volume up / down, mute etc. While having graphical icons on what channels you can watch.

If I then want to listen to radio, then I press the "Radio" activity, and it lists the radio channels that I can listen to.

I know that the above is centered around the TV / Radio, but can be broadened to more topics.. Control lights, set moods for the lights etc.

As I see it, domoticz / piDome doesn't support this, unless you program your own GUI, which shifts states, and present user with icons based on the current activity.

I know that this is partly based on experience with logitech harmony remotes (they do have activity based setups). But I would like to have it on my tablet as well, and my old harmony remote is a standalone unit, so can't tap into it for getting/setting activity states.

So the question is, does this exist in any opensource project? Or do I have to roll my own GUI for this? What do the "hardcore HA gurus" do out there, when it comes to make an easy to use system for the wife / kids?

[scalz]

@tbowmo: I am not an expert with HA yet (I hope to become one lol!), and I have no logitech harmony.
But I have already used jeedom controller (I had a problem with my sd card on rpi so for the moment I need to reinstall it). I have chosen jeedom (I have tested domoticz or domotiga) :

• it's french opensource project, no cloud. there is also an english section in the forum (but not very active...)
• there are lot of plugin available (free, or some needs to pay like 2-6€).

There are very interesting plugins like Energy, Thermostat, Alarm... There is also a logitech Harmony hub
Script, plugins or the dashboard are nice.
See list of plugins here : https://market.jeedom.fr/index.php?v=d&p=market&type=plugin
Here some dashboards screenshots from an old contest.
https://www.jeedom.com/blog/?p=1038

Unfortunately..it's french, so I don't know if you will like it. maybe others will have better idea..

[tbowmo]

I'm actually inclined to buy the logitech ultimate or elite, as a replacement from my old harmony remote.

Main reason is that it apparently can be integrated in many of the opensource projects that we use in HA solutions.

Only problem is the price for that darn thing.. It's EXPENSIVE! 450$ for a remote for the TV.. I can just hear the wife's preaching voice, when she finds out that I have used that amount on a remote "You said that it costs WHAT?!?, but what about ...."

So Ideally I would like to have something homegrown / opensource that might be able to do (almost) the same...

But Let's see..

[hek]

@tbowmo
Your wife might be less reluctant when you place something like this on the coffee table:

[n3ro]

@hek whats this??

[tbowmo]

@hek

Isn't that for just turning off the TV? (Must build one at some point in time, and take it to one of the electronics mega stores.. Just watching the staff going nuts when all their demo TV's are switching off..

[Yveaux]

@hek said:

Your wife might be less reluctant

Only when you place it in a heart shaped box....

[pjeterinfo]

@tbowmo I'm using a Harmony Companion, it's only the hub and a simple remote. Before I used a Harmony One and for me it's no problem not having a display anymore.
By default I can setup 3 different activities (can be too limited for some) and I integrated the Harmony Hub in a Vera Edge. The Edge can be triggered on activities which you activate.
No it does not yet do what you demand ,but for me the Hub is a great addition to HA.