High-end Mac-based Home Automation

Last week at WWDC 2008 I got the chance to view the Savant home automation system in action. It's certainly impressive—it offers wide-ranging and sophisticated support for a variety of different devices—but it's not normally a system I'd consider. You see, the Savant system is decidedly high-end (starting costs are north of $10,000) and it requires professional installation and programming. The results of which, as you'd certainly expect, are impressive.

But I'm definitely a "do it yourself" kinda guy, as Smart Home Hacks demonstrates, so why did Savant catch my eye? Not only were they recruiting Mac OS X-savvy programmers at WWDC, they were demonstrating a system that is entirely Mac-based.

That, my friends, is indeed an exciting development. If you want to dive into high-end automation, you'd normally have to spend plenty of cash on specialized embedded controllers or Windows-based systems. With Savant, you get a controller built on a Mac mini, touch screens based on MacBook computers, and a Mac OS X native programming interface to configure it all. (Although, as with most systems of this nature, you'll likely have your consultant or installer do all the hands-on programming.)

Also of interest to home automation enthusiasts is that Savant eschews most wireless or powerline controller (PLC) interfaces in favor of hardwired control. That helps explain the installation costs, but also provides the high-reliability that an investment-grade system must deliver.

If you're building a new home, and you're in the market for a robust and feature-rich professional automation system that uses your favorite computer as its backbone, you'll want to consider what Savant has to offer. The rest of us can just wipe the drool off our chins.