Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ninja Sphere: Next Generation Control of Your Environment

kickstarter.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 58 posts

Re: Ninja Sphere: Next Generation Control of Your Environment

#21

Post by hipaulshi »

thatguydan wrote: post #8
dmd wrote: post #5

I watched the entire video and I still have no idea what it is or does.

Dan from Ninja here. That's what happens when you try and explain something geeky to a broad audience... but for the techies... It's a powerful (same chip as beaglebone black) ARM computer with WiFi, BLE and ZigBee radios. Runs ubuntu. Everything open source. Almost all Node.JS. It uses open source drivers to connect to devices and learns how they operate, building a model. If something is out of place, it notifies y…

Dan. Would it be possible for you explain the gesture control more? I am confused as to where the sensor is located and what is the range and resolution of the gesture control.

Re: Ninja Sphere: Next Generation Control of Your Environment

#22

Post by malandrew »

Amadou wrote: post #4

I don't see mention either way of subscription/cloud requirements. If it isn't fully self-contained, then the risks out-weigh the benefits. Edit: Drilling down to the ninja blocks pages I see mention of a "ninja cloud account" as being required to install drivers. That sort of unnecessary external dependency is a deal-breaker for me, essentially negating the entire value proposition of open-source. http://ninjablocks…

I agree. Why not open-source the other software parts under some fairly protective license like AGPL for the server and Artistic License v2 for the client interface to the AGPL-ed server. These licenses adequately protect you from a commercial entity coming and stealing the mass market business opportunity or the community, while still making it possible to support individual hackers like Amadou that can contribute a lot, but won't unless it is open source end to end.

Re: Ninja Sphere: Next Generation Control of Your Environment

#24

Post by Amadou »

malandrew wrote: post #22
Amadou wrote: post #4

I don't see mention either way of subscription/cloud requirements. If it isn't fully self-contained, then the risks out-weigh the benefits. Edit: Drilling down to the ninja blocks pages I see mention of a "ninja cloud account" as being required to install drivers. That sort of unnecessary external dependency is a deal-breaker for me, essentially negating the entire value proposition of open-source. http://ninjablocks…

I agree. Why not open-source the other software parts under some fairly protective license like AGPL for the server and Artistic License v2 for the client interface to the AGPL-ed server. These licenses adequately protect you from a commercial entity coming and stealing the mass market business opportunity or the community, while still making it possible to support individual hackers like Amadou that can contribute a…

I don't wish to give the impression that hacking on the hardware is my goal. I could, but I'd rather not. The reason external dependencies are a problem for me is that they take away my ability to control my system. If I have to hack together something to use it without the servers, then that's a marginal improvement over having to reverse engineer the protocol on the wire, but it's still really customer unfriendly.

Anyone who buys this system and makes it central to their home's operation (as intended) becomes exceptionally vulnerable to the decisions of the people who control the servers. Even if the developers' interests always align with my interests, I'm still vulnerable if their system gets hacked, if they go bankrupt (and shut down) or if they are acquired by a company with a different management perspective.

It would be like buying a car that has to check in with Lexus every time I want to start the engine.

Re: Ninja Sphere: Next Generation Control of Your Environment

#25

Post by malandrew »

thatguydan wrote: post #8
dmd wrote: post #5

I watched the entire video and I still have no idea what it is or does.

Dan from Ninja here. That's what happens when you try and explain something geeky to a broad audience... but for the techies... It's a powerful (same chip as beaglebone black) ARM computer with WiFi, BLE and ZigBee radios. Runs ubuntu. Everything open source. Almost all Node.JS. It uses open source drivers to connect to devices and learns how they operate, building a model. If something is out of place, it notifies y…

You actually did a pretty good job with the copy right below the video, "Next generation control of your [home or office] with accurate in-home location data and a gesture control interface.". You should have focused on what it can do now and the vision of what it could become and then spent the second half on the open source aspects of it.

You could have also added a steady cam scene following someone around their home and watching their environment change with them. e.g.

Someone is sitting on the bed reading a book and the nightstand light is on. They get up and move to the door and lighting comes on in the hallway as they walk towards the kitcken lights turn on behind them until they get to the kitchen and get a snack. Then reserve the process until they get back to the bedroom.

This kind of stuff looks like the perfect application for Prolog. There are a lot of predicates to satisfy when determining when a nightlight should be turned on or the overhead light or whether to turn on music in the living room or not.

Re: Ninja Sphere: Next Generation Control of Your Environment

#26

Post by malandrew »

jimmcslim wrote: post #23

If your smart power socket blocks access to the neighbouring socket on a two-socket wall plate I hope the gods of product design SMITE YOUR DESIGN TEAM WITH GREAT VENGEANCE. Please. Slim the design down if necessary.

Buy the "Ziotek ZT1212590 Flat 18-Inch Power Strip Liberator, 5-Pack" on Amazon.com. They are awesome for solving this problem. I'd post a link, but I know commercial links are frowned upon.

I'm still blown away that no one out there sells solid like 3 inch extension cords. I'd buy them in a second. It would also be awesome if they came in a 3-1 variety like in this image:

http://www.ac-powercord.com/products_img/UL_3_Conductor_with...

Re: Ninja Sphere: Next Generation Control of Your Environment

#27

Post by dangrossman »

malandrew wrote: post #26
jimmcslim wrote: post #23

If your smart power socket blocks access to the neighbouring socket on a two-socket wall plate I hope the gods of product design SMITE YOUR DESIGN TEAM WITH GREAT VENGEANCE. Please. Slim the design down if necessary.

Buy the "Ziotek ZT1212590 Flat 18-Inch Power Strip Liberator, 5-Pack" on Amazon.com. They are awesome for solving this problem. I'd post a link, but I know commercial links are frowned upon. I'm still blown away that no one out there sells solid like 3 inch extension cords. I'd buy them in a second. It would also be awesome if they came in a 3-1 variety like in this image: http://www.ac-powercord.com/products_img/UL_…

Wal-Mart has 8-inch ones in 3-packs (in store for like $6), which are actually just long enough since 1.5" on each end is the plug itself.

http://i.imgur.com/B4Tg2rP.jpg

Re: Ninja Sphere: Next Generation Control of Your Environment

#28

Post by malandrew »

outside1234 wrote: post #20
wolfeidau wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes one of goals is to open source the entire platform.

What's the hold up?

I don't work for ninja blocks, but I'm familiar with this exact problem. It's not trivial to get the licensing right so that you maximize your economic potential, but still leave the option open for people to host their own setup.

They want to get rich and give the world maximal freedom. That's a hard problem.

Re: Ninja Sphere: Next Generation Control of Your Environment

#30

Post by dangrossman »

I'm digging all the new home automation stuff that's been coming out the past few years. I've slowly been starting my own collection of networked sensors and controls, reverse engineering the various protocols, and adding them to a custom dashboard. It's voice controlled (Chrome has a speech input JS API built-in now that makes building that easy), and responds to voice commands with dialogue from Star Trek LCARS responses (sound clips taken from the show and cleaned up). Lots of fun.

http://i.imgur.com/G4SYEiJ.jpg

Post reply on HN