Listen to Rick Goren talk for a few minutes, and you soon realize we’ve entered into a brave new world of home automation, entertainment and security. Goren, owner of Technology Interiors (10130 Brooks School Rd., Fishers), calls it an ever-changing, technology-driven multi billion-dollar industry. “The home control market has exploded. Home technology today is fully controllable using smartphones. For a minimal amount of money, [you can have] instant communication from and with your house,” Goren explained during an interview at his Geist-area store.
Goren, 54, built his business initially installing home theater audio/video systems (and still does). Now thanks to the Internet and smartphones, his offerings have expanded to include full home automation (lighting and security) and energy management (HVAC monitoring and control).
Today’s technology integrates with alarm systems, monitors weather and temperature alerts and can be used for elderly monitoring among other uses. Goren explained that thermostat control is really big now, and $500 will get you a complete, self-contained system capable of managing locks, heating, air conditioning and lighting.
Another significant leap forward is the ability to customize home control systems. Goren said it works with budgets large or small, providing consumers the opportunity to remotely monitor and change home functions. If multimedia is your thing, install crazy-awesome home theater systems. “Basically, if you think it, you can build it,” he smiled. “It’s speculative reality. If you can spec anything, we have the ability to do it today.”
Goren said his firm has quite a bit of work underway including installation projects for several Indiana Pacers including David West who recently purchased Peyton Manning’s house. “We have the ability to meet the standards of the highest paid celebrities,” he boasted.
Goren, a serial entrepreneur and inveterate tinkerer, is especially amped about his latest invention. Dubbed ‘Movieman,’ the device is the size of a Walkman (go ahead, channel your inner 1980s). It has a computer chip, a screen user interface and membrane keys and is capable of projecting movies anywhere on any surface. Goren anticipates commercial release by year’s end and predicts a $200 price point.
And what of the future? Goren said we’re rapidly moving into a media server world where the traditional remote control will be extinct. “We won’t buy discs but stream media,” he said, noting the shift is well underway. He also anticipates wall-mounted TV screens – now measuring about half-an-inch thick – to shrink to three millimeters.
Most importantly, he added, is the affordability factor with home automation. “A lot of people think it has to be expensive. That’s not a true statement anymore. You can get great audio for under $400 with phone-controlled software connected to a network,” he said.
I don’t know if this is exactly what English author Aldous Huxley had in mind, but we are, indeed, living in a brave new world.
