House of the Month

House of the Month

Calypso Bay, Queensland

With both parents working full-time as pilots, two young children to look after, and a home located an hour?s return drive from the nearest shopping centre, this family was in need of a smart wired home that would integrate technology into everyday living.

Audio visual

The home has six different music zones using an integration of Apple Mac, iPhones and an Apple TV box. The iPhone is used to bring up an iTunes playlist to scroll through and select music in all zones throughout the house.

Portable touchscreen Rti T3V remotes are used to control audio and visual systems, lighting circuits and movies on demand. With the nearest video shop 45 minutes return drive, regular trips to the video store are difficult. With Tivo Digital PVR and Apple TV installed, downloading is a breeze! It is even possible to dial into the Tivo box via the iPhone to perform recordings.

The iPhone plays an integral part of the house, providing control over music, movies, podcasts and playlists. When file storage space started to run low, an Apple Airport Extreme was installed that allowed for the hard wiring of a 2TB hard drive. The files can now not only be accessed in the home, but even on the family's boat 20 nautical miles offshore!

A component matrix switcher is used to send all the sources such as Tivo, Apple TV, Blu-Ray, Playstation 3, Nintendo Wii and CCTV cameras to any TV in the house is high-definition signal quality. All the Rti T3V remotes have been programmed to access any source on the matrix switcher, allowing full flexibility.

Home owner, Mat Henry answers the following questions about his home's audio visual:

How is your iPhone an extension to your electronic systems?

"My iPhone syncs automatically with my Apple TV so now not only can I or anyone in the family watch or listen to anything that is available, I can also use my iPhone as a remote control for the Apple TV. A recent example was when my daughter was watching Tinkerbell in her bedroom and came downstairs to ask if she could watch Cinderella instead. Without leaving my guests on the ground floor and with wine in hand I scrolled to Cinderella on my iPhone and before she was even at the staircase 10 meters away it was playing in her upstairs bedroom. The whole exercise took less than 10 seconds!

"My daughter then wanted to dance in the theatre room to music videos on the 110 inch screen, so I selected music, video, shuffle and then play. It was done."

What is the best feature about your system?

"Its integration to a lifestyle package that has few, to no, limits. The system allows me space when I need it through ease of operation as well as enabling close contact with my family when I am away.

"As my wife and I are both pilots, there is nothing nicer than watching a home movie when stuck in a hotel on the other side of the planet, or even using the Skype application on my iPhone to talk to my family."

Why is the Matrix switcher ideal for your system design?

"The Matrix switcher is ideal for my system. I can watch Apple TV, Tivo, Blueray, Play Playstation 3 truly, Wii or do a Wii workout on any TV I have in the house, including the 110 inch 1080p projection.

"I can have the security image of my backyard, watching the kids, or front door while watching TV, playing Playstation 3 or using Wii via the Matrix and its ability to distribute all image inputs to any screen in the house. The matrix is truly the perfect complement to the lifestyle package that the house affords."