Repurposing Old Smartphones for Home Automation (Linux.com)

Linux.com has an interviewwith Dietrich Ayala about using old smartphones for home automation."Ayala spent a lot of time studying the readouts from sensors, as well as from the phone's microphone, camera, and, radios, that would enable a remote user to draw conclusions about what was happening at home. This contextual information could then be codified into more useful notifications.With ambient light, for example, if it suddenly goes dark in the daytime, maybe someone is standing over a device, explained Ayala. Feedback from the accelerometer can be analyzed to determine the difference between footsteps, an earthquake, or someone picking up the device. Scripts can use radio APIs to determine if a person moving around is carrying a phone with a potentially revealing Bluetooth signature."