Should I keep developing this?
Hi there!
I just started developing an IoT home device to keep track of sensors and interact with home automation stuff anytime, anywhere.
Users may be able to monitor everything from an app, e.g. temperature, humidity, as well as turning on/off bulbs, watering plants, heating system, ...
I believe many people would buy this, or maybe not. What do you guys think?
Appreciate your time reading this.
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Dont ask us. Ask people in the home automation community.
I think it could be a good idea but you have to ask the right people.
Will do, thank you!
Is a very nice project to work on, but it's difficult to compete with other IoT brands in the field. Although, I guess, if you make a solid job and know where to advertise your final product many people will be interested! An idea such as yours also crossed my mind a couple of months ago when I did a study about IoT in my university, but it proved to be way over my capabilities when I analyzed it...
Appreciate your comment. Just curious, what conclusion did you reach from that study?
I believe that manufacturers have already developed their own apps for this purpose, aside from well-known brands like Google Home or Alexa Home. Therefore, I would say it's extremely challenging for a new startup to enter the market, unless they have a fantastic idea, such as scanning and automatically adding all devices, or integrating with AI for comprehensive management.
Scanning and automatically adding all devices is one of the key features, to be Plug-and-Play. I also came up with the idea of creating workflows, schedules. Using AI sounds great, by that do you mean learning routines?
Honestly, I didn't have anything specific in mind. However, my experience with Google Home wasn't so great when I wanted to turn off all the lights before sleeping. It didn't recognize the command well. So perhaps with your app, you could detect if no one is standing or sitting, then it's time to sleep :)
Thank you for sharing your experience, will take into account for the future.
You could do it and offer it for free for some period, many are still out there waiting to try new things
What I can do is to include software for free together with hardware, which needs to have a minimum cost. What do you think?
You should.
Integrating a broad variety of things is challenging. So make sure there's interest before spending hours on something that people don't need. Moreover, solving one particularly painful problem with one integration would be the best way to go. Remember the wise words of Paul Graham. It's better to have a few customers that really love your product rather than plenty that find it mediocre.
IoT is still an emerging technology, households will likely keep adding this kind of devices. However, I'm not 100% whether if this would work or not, a customer survey may shed some light. Thank you very much!
IoTeX has "Pebble Tracker" which is a bit similar in some ways but only to collect data. There is envirobloq which then pays you for that data and sells to companies.
Seems there's value in selling indoors air quality data.
In the end it's down to utility and niches. Indoors hydroponic farms etc, join those communities and share your concept see what they say.
Hi Pablo, I think you have get the idea for your product. And the idea can solve the real issues for user. So I think you can continue to do it.
Thank you very much!
I believe quite a few home automations stuff available in the market. Before developing one more, I would suggest you to try to sell some offtheshelf stuff and see how responsive the market is for them. As a hobby project it is fine but I don't think as a commercial venture it would make much sense.
Home Assistant is open source and great, it would be hard to compete against
I want to give you constructive criticism, but honestly it just sounds like you are describing a mobile app to manage a home automation platform. ie: home assistant without the hub; just the app. So if you are willing to tackle the competition I say go for it, but this does not seem like a unique idea. If it is unique, you failed to communicate what is unique about it. Maybe you can fill me in to what I missed.
It's not clear what your describing, did you make your own home assistant clone and put it on a hardware device?
Yes it's kind of a home assistant, I'm currently testing it in a Raspberry Pi. The idea is to make IoT more user friendly, to connect and monitor everything from a single device.
Are you doing your own software? Hardware? What's your USP? How is your positioning against other options? What's the special part making it more user friendly from the customers side?
If you can communicate it well, it would be a hard sell
I'm doing my own software, then if the product works as expected will be built into a custom SBC. From what I've seen, other options are a bit tricky, you need to buy gateways for each brand or set up your own home assistant, which in many cases does require some IT knowledge. I want to make it Plug-and-Play.
They do sell home assistant as a device with the radio hardware to connect to device, have auto device detection and install in a click
There are also premium options on the market that some like more for their user friendliness over flexibility
Again, what do you do different
Perhaps this is not something the competition lacks, but more about the features that includes. I came up with the idea of creating workflows, schedules, ... (maybe competitors are already offering this, I have to study the market in depth).
In any case, I will make a survey to see what customers would expect from a product like this. Thank you very much!
"Creating an IoT home device that offers remote monitoring and control of sensors and home automation is a promising venture! Providing users with the ability to manage temperature, humidity, lighting, plant care, and heating systems from anywhere via a user-friendly app aligns well with the growing demand for smart, connected homes. With convenience and efficiency being key priorities for many consumers today, your product has the potential to attract a significant market. Best of luck with your development journey!"
Thank you very much!
Canned AI response?
Just commented on the other thread mentioning about the automatic commentor on reddit threads. Automatic reply tools won't last much longer because there is no incentive for the platforms to have them.