LinuxMCE : The Ultimate Smart Home

Two weeks ago a friend of mine handed me a pendrive with a LinuxMCE demo video. After watching this video I had a jawdrop I have not fully recovered from till now.... Technically LinuxMCE is an add-on to Kubuntu. It is centered around media entertainment and covers an entire variety of smart home scenarios. And definitely seems to have the most complete vision of a smart home.

LinuxMCE focuses on easy and consistent user interface. So there is an always on, always full - screen media (movies, slideshow) with very clever three button remote control, reflected by a very subtle UI blended on top of the payed media. The buttons are [Media] to control WHAT you are watching (channels, recordings, chapters, cue / rev, ...), [Ambience] to control HOW you are watching (volume, brightness,... up / down) and [Menu] for advanced functions. In addition to the three buttons there are two standard [OK] and [Cancel] and the remote controller is motion sensitive (gyro remote, a'la Wii).

LinuxMCE interfaces (USB, serial, infrared) to various receivers / amplifiers / TV sets to provide really streamlined user experience. Like pop a DVD and the TV turns with proper input selected to play the movie. It can also interface to the ZWave smart home controllers to operate lights and other devices. There is also a clever concept of "follow me", where media roams from one display device to another, following you when you move from one room to another.

I have not had a chance to setup a LinuxMCE on my own, but watching the demo video is comforting enough, when I realize somebody is finally thinking far enough to free us from the complexity of home multimedia introduced back in the 1970's with VCRs equipped with flashing "12:00" displays...

Go to the link above and see for yourself :). My wish? Be able to run it on the Sony PS3 or at least be able to use PS3 as a LinuxMCE thin client.... Then nothing would stop me from installing it...