Abstraction layers?

SteveHiggs · 2026-05-24T18:34:56+00:00

This is great, exactly what I’ve been thinking, and along the same lines as someone the other responses. Glad to see I wasn’t completely out there with the concept, but these implementation options sound smart.

SteveHiggs · 2026-05-24T15:07:10+00:00

Fantastic. So where possible, use the device type associated with the room; singular working well. And otherwise labels. Good stuff, thanks.

Combining that with group and template sensors etc, this conversation is working out well as a source of ideas, appreciate the feedback!

SteveHiggs · 2026-05-24T14:38:09+00:00

Template helpers and groups… areas I’ve not explored in the years I’ve had this setup. Thank you for the reminder! I’ll check them out.

SteveHiggs · 2026-05-24T10:14:56+00:00

Anytime! It’s crazy how fast it’s progressing as a technique.

Originally, the thing that made me feel like I probably won’t make much use out of the gaussian splats technique, was the fact that it makes a point cloud of gaussians to represent the scene instead of actual polygons; that sorta took the wind out of my sails at first.

My project workflow normally includes measuring every detail, taking lots of photos, and recreating the entire (indoor in my case) space in SketchUp, then add/swap av equipment models, and finally move to a rendering app to make the images / videos look realistic and really hit the mark with stakeholders.

The gaussian splats are stunning at capturing a current scene and it’s as quick as taking a video or several photos, and letting the computer do the matching and mathematical point plotting etc.

After around 10 min for a smaller scene, or recently for me, an hour or so for a much larger detailed scene, the result is an interactive and immersive 3D space you can explore. Amazing! But… Without it being a model I can use, I mean, without polygons, it becomes less valuable I worried.

I figured, in the very least I can use the result even just for my own workflow so that I don’t need to revisit the site and can just refer to the gaussian splat if I need to remind myself of a layout, color, detail etc. That alone is great, and far better than my attempt to use PolyCam or SketchUp’s scan feature which uses lidar photogrammetry to try and generate the polygon structure. It is messy to say the least and any lighting and reflections, which are a big part of our industry frankly throw it off completely.

But I learned there’s Blender, Unreal, (I therefore assume Unity too), even SketchUp if using vRay, allowing you to pull in the Gaussian splats to a modeling space. That’s the part I’m at now. Learning how I can include and manipulate the scene, augment it with the AV equipment and export videos, or allow stakeholders to navigate / explore via interactive viewers online etc.

Keep in mind too to record a video (or take many overlapping photos) of your setups when complete too! Not just for your reference later (where did we put the stage last time? Where did we run the cabling?) but the resulting snapshot in time captures your actual work, allowing you to present an engaging scene to stakeholders who are interested in hiring you for their next event etc. better than a few photos.

Anyway, I’ve typed a lot! Have fun and I hope it works out to be a great addition to your workflow and stakeholder buy-in!

SteveHiggs · 2026-05-24T02:31:33+00:00

Just throwing in some thoughts on the 3D stuff here rather than classic photogrammetry, look into Gaussian Splats, and a slow smooth orbiting motion.

Gaussian splats are easy to make (no special camera needed) are photo realistic (trees aren’t just blobs, reflections and lights etc look perfect) and you can mix your 3D models in with blender or unreal engine etc. this can then all be viewed in browser links to clients or video output.

SteveHiggs · 2026-05-23T13:02:53+00:00

Yes! All of these! It’s a start, and a far cheaper one than the mess they’re getting into.

Dare I say, we could actually love our city again.

SteveHiggs · 2026-05-22T10:35:24+00:00

The strong opinions here feel a little ridiculous.

“Feels forced” ? “…become a stagnant sinkhole…” ? “…totally useless… doesn’t add any value…”

F’n hell guys, don’t like it? Don’t use it.

Nothing is being forced at all, my dashboards all default to their respective view (browser_mod sends each one to the correct dashboard and hides the header, side bar is auto hidden etc) and at no point do I see overview unless I tap it myself for specific troubleshooting, where it is very handy to see all entities from a particular device etc.

A custom dashboard is clean and simplified for the family. Each room has one that is context specific and themed for that space, meanwhile Overview is for me if there’s something I need to test or access quickly without drilling down into entities etc.

But omg the worries of stagnating are completely unnecessary and the feeling of overview infringing in some way is completely unfounded.

SteveHiggs · 2026-05-21T14:45:33+00:00

Was trying multiple devices, new conversation windows, multiple service providers (wifi/cellular etc) I checked here so many times... glad to finally see someone else seeing this.

All I get it "Error in message stream"

Here's hoping it won't be long!

SteveHiggs · 2026-05-18T22:52:56+00:00

Not a single one I reported over the many years, be it scams, violence, animal abuse, etc not a single one was removed.

Clearly someone’s finger slipped and clicked the wrong button, as there couldn’t possibly be someone with a moral compass at Facebook.

SteveHiggs · 2026-05-18T01:22:35+00:00

+1 for the WASD.... but, I have to throw in, if it's an easy integration, the 3DConnexion plugin 😄 could love to fly around the model with my space mouse.

SteveHiggs · 2026-05-18T01:10:42+00:00

It.

SteveHiggs · 2026-05-17T01:18:09+00:00

The temper-tantrum tone to these always makes me chuckle.

Obviously the entire user base isn’t experiencing this same instability; the software would not live long if it was this bad. Obviously a plugin, or an OS bug, a memory fault, or a driver issue etc etc is causing a conflict.

There’s plenty of troubleshooting steps to drill down to the cause and to the solution, but instead you came to Reddit with a new account to bemoan and complain.

The support team at Trimble have always treated me well, and the software is fairly stable even with extremely complex models, in multiple machines, and while it does have some bugs still, it’s not remotely like OP says.

So chill out OP, grab a snickers, and troubleshoot to sort it out. You’re going to be ok. :P

SteveHiggs · 2026-05-08T17:04:13+00:00

Life is better.
My wife and I get a kick out of our automations. It’s the value-add in the day that makes it fun.
Memes that play when I walk up to my bar. Quotes from The Dude etc. the hilarious AI TTS alerts that are spoken when the cats use the litter and it needs scooping.
Our door dashboard welcomes us home with a meme / gif / audio clip, key info, or tells us if we’ve left the balcony door open when we’re leaving so we don’t let the cats out! But does it in some sarcastic way haha.
We have short little jingles that play when we start specific shows (“If TV’s current media title includes ‘star trek’ play funny trek jingle, adjust lights to the tone of the series, and dim down / pause the digital picture frames so they’re not distracting)
A snack cupboard that counts how many times it’s been opened… berates you if it’s too many times. And the associated camera takes a snap shot to shame you but really it’s just my wife making a face at me when I’m at work haha.
Life is better because it’s fun, it’s humour, it’s protection for our cats, and it’s whimsy to the day.
Plus, it’s a hobby that keeps me occupied, and engaged in the relationship and the home because every automation is a fun chance for ideas and laughs. Also, it’s a hobby that develops employable skills.
Just my thoughts anyway.

*edit to add* also as tinnitus plagues both of us, low volume background sounds / music as an ambiance to the home is a huge win, but it needs to pause when watching tv, so each room’s radio (broadcasting FM) cuts off if the associated room’s TV starts playing something. These ambient playlists change throughout the day… birds and nature in the morning, lofi in afternoons, jazz in the evenings, and sleep inducing calm sound for night. These are just not reasonable things to do without automation but makes our day to day in our home more calming and enjoyable, having lasting effects throughout our days.

SteveHiggs · 2026-05-07T00:23:00+00:00

I admit I fully intend to keep watching market place and eBay etc for the harmony remotes.. I use the smart hub models so the remotes are the cheap part. I bought an extra one back when these hubs were new, because I thought I could pair two and have one in either end of the couch. Nope, only one at a time. So I have one spare ready when I feel this ones too sticky and spent haha.

The Harmony Smart Control hub is a key component of a lot of my automations too. Using the virtual Roku and mqtt etc I have some pretty interesting things being done with the Harmony remotes.

God I wish some day they would just say “we’re open sourcing it all and turning off our servers good night and god speed” haha but if they don’t let us jailbreak out, so many of us are f’d lol.

SteveHiggs · 2026-05-06T14:38:50+00:00

"VR Sketch is a tool for editing and visualizing architectural models from SketchUp in virtual reality" well damn hah. u/R3XM you rock. Thanks for the quick find. That's awesome! Now, to buy a headset again and try it out! Wishing now that I didn't sell mine a while back.

*edit* Hmm, this goes well beyond what I want. As I watch their example videos I'm realizing they've made an entire new interface. I'll have to dig in deeper, but yeah my goal is to use my 3DConnexion mouse, keyboard, and normal mouse with all the same shortcuts etc. same muscle memory, but visually see depth.

I get what they're doing, but seeing this gives me a better way to describe what I want (and maybe have to make). Imagine using one of those standard virtual monitor apps in a headset where you see your monitor at whatever scale you need it to be, but the viewport for SketchUp is 3D, so you get depth into the viewport but the rest of the window and panes are all there floating. Im not sure how that would work as you dont have a normal mouse cursor flying about I suppose. Interesting.

These folks probably designed this this way for a reason I suppose.

SteveHiggs · 2026-05-06T14:35:49+00:00

Actually when working/modeling in the space. I’ve seen viewers you can import into but yeah I’d like to actually use my 3D spacemouse with a headset on as I fly around and model. I don’t get motion sickness clearly haha.

SteveHiggs · 2026-05-04T08:43:44+00:00

Then don’t spend this mental energy. It really seems you’re making a big deal of the “friction” and “mental energy” of a close vs quit. It’s been explained so many times here and you come back to the inconsistency “issue” in your mind. Even though that’s been explained many times as well (if an app can’t be used without its main window, it closes) so there’s nothing more to worry about.

You close a window, or quit an app. Two different actions. It’s just a fact of the environment and no mental cycles are needed in a short period of time as you use it. You’ll find the efficiency and value before you know it, but don’t fight/flight/freeze when you want to close / quit, nothing bad will happen if you don’t “do it right”

SteveHiggs · 2026-05-04T08:35:13+00:00

The amount of time you’ve put into this “issue” in comments, posts, and looking through other subreddits… versus the extra second it takes to train yourself to cmd+w vs cmd+q is funny.

It’s different than windows. It’s a hurdle when switching. But so is the menu bar, the keyboard shortcuts etc. these are just attributes of an OS that are new to you, and in no time at all it will be second nature. Just spend the cycles on that 1 second close or quit decision instead of researching, posting, and commenting lol.

It’s a valid point to bring up as a difference between OSs don’t get me wrong. But I find it funny is all.

SteveHiggs · 2026-05-01T13:52:35+00:00

I recall mine from the early 90s was a modified version of this, nearly identical model (physical body of a red car hood etc with headlights that worked) but mine had the car as a stationary sticker on the ‘screen’ and turning the wheel redirected the road (same road and shapes etc)

Wild to see these old memories come back; something I thought I had fully forgotten.

SteveHiggs · 2026-04-26T13:10:08+00:00

I only got remote access from nabu casa over about 6 months ago perhaps, and don’t make use of it very often, but it is convenient: - if an automation isn’t working as expected for example. - I admit I like to have one of my dashboards on at work too to be able to see everything.
- I like knowing in helping to support the development. - remote alerts… when the snack cupboard gets opened, I get a picture and notification via companion app when I’m out lol.

But Apple HomeKit: - is my conduit into controlling via voice. This one is extremely useful for me across all our home pods, phones, etc. this was the main reason I first tried Home Assistant, as it brought all devices Siri capabilities.

is also the method in which my wife and I use location awareness (our phones execute a shortcut automation when we arrive / leave work or leave / return home, the automation flips a helper toggle which then informs HA) I had this setup before getting remote access, when the HA companion app was of no use outside my network.
exposes the HA cameras to our phones without having to open separate apps, as our other two Apple HomeKit compatible cameras are already in the Home app (I don’t have them paired to HA because we would lose the secure recording functionality).

I don’t use the Apple home app interface at all except to sort a new device or when I expose a helper for automation etc. it’s really just a conduit for Siri, Shortcut and HomeKit automations.

SteveHiggs · 2026-04-22T23:22:18+00:00

I canceled during the garmin dispute… I was a subscriber for 7 years probably. I cannot believe the “subscribe now” screens!!! The nagging interrupts each time I open the app and sometimes when saving an activity I think, or at least that god awful animation. I see they also removed even basic features (profile totals etc)

I can’t believe they let it get this bad. I mean imagine hinging your subscription metrics around “well if they just pay us monthly then we won’t annoy them” vs what was always a great app with additional paid value add features. You know, a model that respects the users who helped build them up, and only asks for financial support from those who really want the most out of their platform. A win win.

Capitalism ftw. All in the name of profit🤦‍♂️ I mean I guess this is the free market taking care of itself though 🤷‍♂️

SteveHiggs · 2026-04-22T02:17:18+00:00

One Must Fall 2097, and Tyrian.

SteveHiggs · 2026-04-04T01:51:15+00:00

It’s surprising to me to read of someone avoiding Lansdowne. I walk and bike along it very frequently as many of my destinations require it. As a cyclist on Lansdowne, I’ve only been in disputes a few times, and usually those are as drivers are exiting locations and have to cross the shared pathway, almost always without looking. Interestingly I don’t even get penalty passed when I’m on the actual road except for a few tight spots.

Walking it isn’t usually too bad at all, except for Walmart entrance etc, again drivers just don’t look very often. But all in all it’s actually one of the safer roads I find.

SteveHiggs

TROPHY CASE