Turning your lights on automatically is certainly cool, and like many smart home gadgets, it can even save you money. Save energy and money with these smart home devices Save energy and money with these smart home devices One of the biggest benefits of a smart home is the available energy saving technologies. In addition to saving money, you'll also be pushing toward a more sustainable and convenient living situation. Read More all with their own silly mobile app that you need to get rowdy with to turn them on. Is the tone different? We find. Read more . For that, we need to be creative. This is what we found:
In the Harry Potter series, the Weasley family has an intriguing magical item on their wall:a clock with hands that point to each family member's location or status, such as "school" or "in mortal danger." As magical as it sounds, we could achieve the same effect with some color geolocation and lighting features.
The IF app for iOS or Android can do geolocation natively, so setting this up is trivial with the official Hue bubls.
Assign a light bulb to each user and create a different color recipe from your smartphone for each location you want to track. Since using an entire bulb for this purpose might be considered a bit overkill, consider connecting a Spark Core development board to a few NeoPixel WS2812B LEDs, then use this library to connect with IFTTT. You can then fix the small LED strip below your monitor for peace of mind.
As much as I like my iPhone, it has to be said that if you have an Android device, you have a lot more automation options due to the lack of a sandbox.
For a modest fee, Hue Pro combined with Hue Pro Tasker (two separate 99-cent purchases, though a demo mode is available) has a wide range of trigger actions that can be tied to your lighting. Call notification can be set to trigger a flashing action and can be tied to individual numbers, so you can assign colors to specific contacts, or just all calls, which could be useful if you want to use a headset for immersive gaming sessions ..
“WiFi Connected” is another useful trigger that can easily turn on the lights when you get home, and each trigger also allows for time restrictions, so you don't need to turn on the lights unnecessarily. This app is definitely worth a try, and let us know what creative uses you came up with in the comments.
As someone who works from home, I can attest to how easy it is to sit at your computer all day, lost in the programming zone of a big project.
From a health perspective, this is absolutely terrible. Using a Desk to Stand Sitting to Standing While Typing:Why You Need to Change Your Work Habit From Sitting to Standing While Typing:Why You Need to Change Your Work Habit Writing full-time keeps me sitting at a desk almost eight hours a day. My office chair isn't one of those ergonomic Lexus models designed to take the pain out of sitting, and while I've… Read More helped (try building your own DIY sit/stand desk) Sit/Stand Session Read More ); as well as taking short breaks with the Pomodoro technique Pomodoro Web App Tomato.com Is time management made easy? Pomodoro Web App Tomato.com Time management made easy Can't focus? Go to work, now. Tomato.es is a free Pomodoro timer that you can use right in your browser, and it's possibly the best app of its kind I've ever used. The Pomodoro technique is simple:… Read more. However, personally, I find a desktop application that reminds me to take a 5-minute break every 25 minutes quite exhausting and rigid.
This Android app could help [No Longer Available], by using your Tone to give a more discreet visual indicator of rest times, but since I prefer longer and longer intervals of time, I'd rather build a capacitance sensor version to automatically reset the timer when I put my butt in my seat.
With an Arduino, this would be trivial code even if you're a complete Arduino beginner. 15 Great Arduino Projects for Beginners 15 Great Arduino Projects for Beginners Interested in Arduino but not sure where to start? Here are some of our best Arduino projects to get beginners started! Learn More:Just use an RGB LED strip and a 5V ED amp for whole room lighting, or a more demure single RGB LED that came with your starter kit What's included in an Arduino starter kit? [MakeUseOf Explains] What is included in an Arduino starter kit? [MakeUseOf Explains] I've previously featured open source Arduino hardware here on MakeUseOf, but you're going to need more than just the actual Arduino to build something from it and really get started. Arduino "starter kits" are... Read More .
Philips doesn't just make fancy light bulbs for your smart home, it also makes TVs with fancy built-in lights. Ambilight is ambient color lighting included with many Philips TVs, mirroring the current image on the screen.
The theory is that it reduces eye strain when watching in the dark, and has the added bonus of increasing immersion:feeling like you have a bigger TV as the picture is "stretched" around the edge Hue bulbs can be plugged into this too, mirroring the image around your entire living room, but only if you have an Ambilight compatible TV.
However, it is a popular concept, so DIY solutions abound. In fact, I created one myself for under $100 with some NeoPixel LEDs and an Arduino. Read my guide here Make Your Own Ambilight For $60 Make Your Own Ambilight For $60 Ambient lighting that reacts to the picture on your TV is easier and cheaper than you think, and it's a huge improvement to your home theater experience. House. Read more and watch the demo below.
Automated sentiment analysis isn't there yet, but if you simply put an encouraging hashtag on your tweets, you can trigger individual IFTTT recipes that react to that hashtag. You'll need a new copy for each color/mood combo you want to follow, and keep in mind there's up to a 15-minute lag. 
The same can be done with Facebook, using an almost identical recipe.
The Disney Storylight, a special branded version of a standard Hue Bloom table lamp, works in conjunction with an iPad app to add a dimension of color to your bedtime stories (5 free, more available via in-app purchases) .
It's a particularly expensive addition to the Hue range and the app is riddled with bugs, but it's still one of my favorites nonetheless. If your child is having trouble settling for a story, this might be the boost he needs.
You can also link additional Hue bulbs, though the app requires at least one be a Storylight.
On a similar topic, sleep training is also a difficult time for most parents and young children. Hue bulbs, or even a standard RGB light strip, can be used as a quick indicator to your child if it's okay to wake up yet - establishing a routine is key.
Just use the alarm function to set your ringtone to gradually come on at bedtime (perhaps a soothing blue, and again to change to red or yellow in the morning). Your child should quickly understand when she is and is not okay to get up and start making noise!
For a DIY approach, check out my sunrise alarm project. Arduino night light and dawn alarm project. Arduino night light and dawn alarm project. Today we will make a sunrise alarm clock, which will gently and slowly wake you up without resorting to offensive noise. - Making machine. Read more here and adjust as needed.
What kind of creative ideas come to mind? What do you use your RGB lighting for?
