Notes

Notes on home intelligence

Short essays on memory, context, local-first design, and restraint in smart homes, with examples from the HELIX test home.

• Why Home Assistant Still Needs a Memory Layer
  Home Assistant executes rules superbly but forgets what usually happens. Why a home needs memory and context, and what that looks like when it is built.
• Local AI vs Cloud Smart Home Systems
  Cloud smart homes are convenient until a vendor changes the terms. Where home intelligence should live, what local-first really means, and where the cloud still belongs.
• What “Context-Aware” Smart Home Automation Actually Means
  Most “context-aware” automation is stacked conditions. Real context needs memory, evidence, and the discipline to check a pattern against the days it did not happen.
• The Problem With Automating Everything
  Long automation lists are usually patches. Why restraint has to be designed in, and how a home can review its own automations before changing them.