探索尚不成熟的智能家居控制系統

Dear house: When I wake up, please turn on the lights, crank up the heat, play some tunes and brew my coffee.

親愛的房子：當我起牀的時候，請打開電燈，調高室溫，放點音樂，把我的咖啡煮好。

Who hasn't dreamt of a house that can take orders? Austin Powers's bed rotates and plays bossa nova at his command. Wallace and Gromit, the animated Englishman and his dog, live in a house that can wake you, drop you into pants and spread jam on your toast -- though it never quite works as designed.

誰不曾夢想擁有一座能夠言聽計從的房子？《王牌大賤諜》(Austin Powers)主角奧斯汀・鮑爾斯的牀就能在他的指令下旋轉起來，播放巴薩諾瓦音樂。動畫片《超級無敵掌門狗》(Wallace and Gromit)當中的英國人華力士和他的愛犬格羅米特就生活在一座可以叫你起牀、給你穿褲子、給吐司抹上果醬的房子――只不過它總是不完全按照設計初衷來運轉。

While I'm still looking for the perfect Internet-connected toaster, I feel a little like Wallace. My 'smart' house has a Nest thermostat, app-controlled Philips Hue light bulbs, Dropcam streaming security camera, Sonos wireless speakers and a few other automated thingamabobs. Yet for all that, my devices don't know how to work together.

雖然我還沒有找到完美的聯網烤麪包機，但我感覺自己已經有點像華力士那樣了。我的“智能”房屋有Nest溫控器、靠應用程序控制的飛利浦(Philips) Hue燈泡、Dropcam的串流安監攝像頭、Sonos無線揚聲器和其他幾樣自動化的東西。然而，這些設備並不知道怎樣協同工作。

That's because I need more devices! A few companies have begun selling hardware and apps that orchestrate different devices in your home so they talk to each other and to your phone. I've been testing three of these controllers, none of which charge a monthly fee: the $299 Revolv, $99 Staples Connect and $99 SmartThings.

這是因爲我還需要更多的設備！有幾家公司已經開始出售協調住宅內不同設備、使之能相互溝通並與你的電話溝通的硬件和設備。我這段時間在測試三款這樣的控制器。它們都不收取月費，分別是299美元的Revolv、99美元的Staples Connect和99美元的SmartThings。

When I began playing around with these systems several weeks ago, I had the feeling we were on the cusp of solving the smart-home puzzle. So many startups are focusing on home automation and security, while big guns like Google (which just bought Nest) are quietly preparing their moves as well. But bringing any of the current options home will make your life unnecessarily complex. Hobbyists will enjoy tinkering with these systems, but for anybody else who cares about their marriages, children and sanity, my recommendation is to wait.

幾個星期前開始擺弄這些系統的時候，我感覺我們已經位於解答智能家居謎題的邊緣。許許多多的初創企業都在專攻住宅自動化和住宅安全，同時谷歌（剛剛收購了Nest）等大牌企業也在悄悄地佈局。但把目前這些解決方案中的任何一項拿回家去都會使你的生活變得不必要地複雜。玩家會喜歡鼓搗這些系統，但對於關心婚姻、孩子和心智健康的其他人來說，我的建議是再等等。

When you automate your home with a hub today, physical controls, whether a light switch or coffeepot buttons, suddenly become unusable or screw up an automated program. You and your family will have to think in terms of programming your lives. And no single hub can yet talk to all smart devices.

今天當你用某個控制中心實現住宅的自動化之後，實體操控裝置（不管是電燈開關還是咖啡壺按鈕）會在突然之間變得無法使用，或者與自動化程序不兼容。你和家人將不得不考慮怎樣給生活編程。而且目前還沒有哪一個控制中心可以跟所有智能設備對話。

My house can now do some nifty tricks, like alerting my phone whenever a door opens, and turning on my porch light when I get a few blocks from home. But figuring it all out was time-consuming, expensive and occasionally screwball.

現在我的房子可以耍一些巧妙的戲法，比如在家中某個房門打開的時候提醒我的手機，在我離家僅幾個街區的時候打開門廊燈。但要全部搞懂，既費時又費錢，有時候還顯得很奇怪。

Smartening up a home begins with installing a hub. All three are about the size of a big sandwich, designed to be plugged into a home network and hidden away. The problems begin when they connect. SmartThings doesn't have Wi-Fi, so it has to be plugged into a router. That's fine if your router sits in the middle of your house, but my house is long and narrow, with the router at one end.

住宅智能化首先是安裝一個控制中心。我試用的這三款控制中心都是大號三明治大小，都是要接入住宅網絡並且很隱蔽。聯網的時候就開始出問題。SmartThings沒有Wi-Fi，所以必須插入一臺路由器。如果路由器位於房子的中央位置那還好說，但我的房子又長又窄，路由器放在了房子的一頭。

Revolv, wirelessly communicating from the middle of my house, seemed to do the best job sensing everything. But it couldn't even reach wireless Insteon light bulbs on both ends of my house. I had to move them closer to make my hub happy.

Revolv從房子中央通過無線方式交流，在感應所有東西方面似乎是最出色的。但它連房子兩頭的Insteon無線燈泡都接觸不到。爲了讓這個控制中心滿意，我不得不把燈泡移得更近一些。

Sadly, that was just the beginning. When it comes to my morning routine, ideally a hub would know I was awake because my activity tracker would tell it I'm stirring. But none of the hubs yet talk to wearables like the Fitbit and the Jawbone Up. I installed three motion sensors outside my bedroom to alert my hubs.

可嘆的是，這僅僅是開始。處理晨間任務的時候，理想的情況是控制中心能夠知道我已經醒了，因爲我的活動跟蹤器會告訴它我在忙乎。但還沒有哪一款控制中心能跟Fitbit、Jawbone Up之類的可穿戴設備溝通。我在臥室外安裝了三臺動作感應器來提醒控制中心。

Once I triggered a motion sensor, Revolv was the only one smart enough to complete all the tasks I asked it to do: Turn on lights, crank up my Nest thermostat, activate my Sonos speakers and turn on the power to my coffee maker. Revolv can do this in part because it has more radio transmitters than the competition.

當我觸發了動作感應器之後，只有Revolv的智能化程度能夠完成我下達的所有任務：開燈、上調Nest溫控器溫度、激活Sonos揚聲器、給咖啡機通電。Revolv之所以能夠完成這些任務，一個原因是它的無線電發射器比競爭對手更多。

Though Revolv tapped into my Nest unlike the others, a representative for Nest warned me that it isn't an authorized use, and any software updates could disrupt the thermostat's compatibility. For that reason, I can't recommend these hubs for Nest owners. The three hubs do work with other thermostat makers.

雖然Revolv實現了對Nest溫控器的控制，有別於其他控制中心，但Nest公司的一名代表提醒我，這不是授權用途，如果軟件升級，則有可能干擾溫控器與控制中心的兼容性。因此我無法向Nest用戶推薦這幾款控制中心。這三款控制中心與其他溫控器倒是兼容的。

This brings up a core issue. Many device makers haven't opened up their systems to home controllers because of concerns over security and technology standards. Without more cooperation, hub makers are unable to fulfill the dream of a fully automated home. The Staples hub maker says it doesn't want to support unencrypted devices, and forges partnerships to ensure stability.

這就帶來了一個核心問題。出於安全和技術標準方面的考慮，許多設備生產商還沒有向住宅控制裝置開放系統。在沒有更多合作的情況下，控制中心生產商就無法實現住宅全自動化的夢想。Staples控制中心生產商說，它不想支持未加密設備，並通過與設備製造商結成合作關係來確保穩定。

Getting the software right is another challenge. All three hubs let you turn on and off devices via your smartphone. But programming automatic routines requires solving logic puzzles the likes of which you see on the LSAT: If the hub senses A during B time of day, then it will do C, but only if D isn't around.

設置軟件又是一重挑戰。三款控制中心都允許你通過智能手機打開、關閉設備。但編寫自動化的日常事務需要解決一些類似於法學院入學考試的邏輯題：如果控制中心在一天的A時刻感知到B事件，那麼它將執行C任務，但前提是D事件沒有發生。

The best software of the lot, by far, was SmartThings. With it, you build commands around specific needs and moments. I used its 'rise and shine' template to tell it to look for action on a sensor between 6:45 a.m. and 8 a.m., and then turn on lights, speakers and my coffeepot. Another program turns off all of those things when I -- or at least my phone -- leaves the house. But sometimes those programs would inexplicably fail -- and I couldn't tell if it was my bad programming, or something wrong with the system.

目前爲止軟件做得最好的是SmartThings。它是圍繞具體的需求和時刻來建立指令。我用它“起牀曬太陽”的模板讓它在早上6點45分至早上八點的時間段內留意一個傳感器上的動作，然後打開燈光、揚聲器和咖啡壺。另一個程序在我（至手是我的手機）離開房子的時候把這一切都關掉。但有時候這些程序不知何故失靈了，我也不知道是我編程不對，還是系統出了問題。

Staples Connect offered some of the same capabilities, but in an interface that was much more difficult to use and often more buggy.

Staples Connect也有一部分相同的功能，但它的界面用起來難了很多，而且常常顯得更加神經兮兮的。

Revolv may have been the hero at connecting to the most devices, but it software lacks the ability to understand conditions, like time of day. I could create a 'good morning' routine to be activated by the motion sensor, but if I got up in the middle of the night, the program would kick off then, too. One Sunday night, it kicked off my morning routine over and over, with lights blazing and heater blasting. I'm sorry, Revolv, but I just unplugged you. The company, says it is working on adding conditions to the app.

在連接設備最多這一點上，Revolv可能算是最佳的，但它的軟件缺乏理解條件（比如時刻）的能力。我可以設置一串“早上好”的指令，由動作感應器來激活，但如果我在半夜起牀，程序也會激活。一個星期天的晚上，它一遍又一遍地啓動我早上要做的那些事情，燈光刺眼、溫控器熱浪襲人。對不起Revolv，但我只能拔掉你的電源了。Revolv公司說，它正在爲應用程序增加條件。

My experience speaks to a broader problem. Our lives often have a rhythm, but it will require a much more sophisticated artificial intelligence to program a house around the way we live. Sometimes I want the lights off at 11; other times, people come home late. I'd like to be alerted if there's unexpected motion at home, but not if it's a cat.

我的體驗揭示了一個更大的問題。我們的生活常常是有節奏的，但要圍繞我們的生活方式來給住宅編程，目前人工智能的複雜程度還遠遠不夠。有時候我想在11點鐘熄燈，還有些時候大家回家較晚。如果屋內有意外動作，我希望獲得提醒，但如果是一隻貓那就算了。

It's easy to see how home automation will advance -- all of the hub makers say they're regularly rolling out updates to make their software more intuitive and compatible with more devices. But my life needs more flexibility than what today's hubs can handle.

住宅自動化的進步可以很容易看得到――所有控制中心生產商都說，它們正在不斷地推出更新，讓軟件更加直觀、與更多的設備兼容。但我的生活需要的靈活機動性，超出了今天的控制中心能夠應付的水平。