Bridging the gap between virtual and real with second life client in a virtual home automation system

In this paper we propose the design and development of a prototype system to monitor and control a physical home and to bridge the interaction gap between the virtual and real world device control mechanism. We created a virtual 3D home in Second Life that mimics the look of a physical home. In the physical home environment different devices and sensors are connected in order to ensure a safe and automated home. Any event that occurs in the physical space of the smart home is then synchronized with the virtual environment. More importantly, the virtual home interface provides the option to control the physical smart devices. By using the Second Life virtual interface the home owner have a better look to monitor or control the home appliances. As per the initial experimentation, we found out that the proposed approach of Second Life based home automation system is appealing and useful to the user. Some of the other possible applications of the proposed system are public space surveillance, child monitoring scenarios etc.