IOT visual feedback device

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  • mart1711
    Automated Home Jr Member
    • Oct 2016
    • 31

    IOT visual feedback device

    Dear all,

    Apologies for a long post.

    If this has been discussed before I do apologize, I can't find it. I don't even know what the name of the device I'm looking for is in the first place, so maybe it doesn't exist at all and that is why I can't find it. Or I am looking for the wrong name. Basically I want a simple IOT enabled "thing" that can display a different color depending on the state of another "thing". So for example when the house alarm is not set I would like something that visually reminds of that. And when I do set the alarm, I would like that something to change colour (from red to green for example). I could control the rules and actions through openHAB - I just need a simple device that can visualize the states for me. A little bit of history and context:

    I have been approaching the world of "smart home" in stages over the last couple of years.

    It started with the Honeywell evoHome heating system which I started using as a standalone. Then I discovered the Alexa skill - there is something quite gratifying about when you walk into a room, tell Alexa to set the heat to x degrees and you hear the boiler fire up

    I then discovered the Python API and evohomeclient library that someone immensely clever had put together - which opened the world of scripting and interfacing with the heating that way.

    Very recently I made the move to openHAB which I'm running on a Raspberry PI 3. It interfaces with Evohome, it turns the fish tank light on for me 10 minutes before nightfall, it sends text to speech message through Alexa to badger me about things I have failed (or forgotten) to do. It gets Alexa to tell me when I've left the bathroom heating on for over an hour. I also use Amazon Dash buttons as very cheap IOT enabled buttons / push devices.

    I really really like it so far. I can control Zigbee and Z-Wave devices from openHAB also and will slowly start adding sensors and devices where appropriate. There is no rush (plus everything is SO expensive).

    What I'm really after is a device I can use a visual feedback for a certain "thing" state without having to look at a screen. Is there such a thing as a simple (affordable) button or switch than can change colour based and is controllable through Zigbee or Z-Wave? I have seen that some wall switches and wall plugs have the ability to change colour. I don't even need to set different colours, a simple red/green or maybe even an on/off would do.

    I hope what I'm asking makes sense - please let me know if I've missed something terribly obvious.

    Many thanks

    Martin
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