An approach to making smart home automations perceivable

Smart home installations, in which connected devices exchange data with each other, are becoming a widespread reality. These environments are based on automation rules, which may be specified even by end users. To make the process of automations creation and management easier, less prone to errors, and more engaging, we propose an approach based on mobile Augmented Reality (AR). In this paper, we describe how AR can be used to interact with the objects in the environment, and allow for the definition of coordinated behaviours between them. Starting with analysis of relevant literature and our previous experiences, we introduce four main aspects to consider when designing the user-application interaction, and how we are implementing them in a prototype AR automation management application. Further possibilities that AR can offer in this context will be discussed as well.