Inside Intel's tiny house of the future

Intel's tiny house is just 210 square feet, representing the micro-spaces that millenials and city-dwellers are now calling home. The house showcases how smart-home devices can work together and be controlled through one simple interface. The house is currently located in San Francisco, but can travel around and will be used as a testing lab for new technologies over the next 12 to 18 months.

Intel's True Key technology powers a demo at the front door. The smart lock opens when the camera (hidden in the bird box) recognizes a trusted face at the door.

Intel is not building the devices themselves, but the framework called the Smart Home Development Acceleration Platform so all these devices can be controlled through one app.

Here, you can see the camera has recognized a face.

Once it finds a known face, access to the door is granted. The app can also show you the faces of unrecognized visitors.

If the camera detects an unfamiliar face at the door, the app will prompt you with a screen that gives you options to call an emergency number or grant them access to the property.

Inside the tiny house, it looks like any regular studio space, complete with kitchen and living area.

There's also a bathroom and a study area that conceals a bed right underneath. All the lightbulbs throughout can be controlled through the app, either through voice control or via sliders to adjust color or intensity.

The tiny house can also tell you when something has gone wrong. For example, this standard off-the-shelf moisture sensor can feed back information into the app when it detects a leak. It prompts the owner to take action by showing a notification on the screen and provides a list of responses such as calling a plumber.

Don't have a favorite plumber on speed dial? The app pulls in a list of plumbers (or other tradespeople) to help solve your issue.

A microphone in the house lets you control several devices with voice commands. Change the colors of the lights or turn them on and off with simple prompts.

Change the color of the light strip just by asking politely.

Although the house is small, there is still room for a tiny study area in the back corner. All the lights can be controlled through the app.

The app also gives granular control over light color.

On top of voice control, the tiny house also has an audio analytic system that can detect when something has gone awry. If the microphone hears the sound of glass breaking, it can send an alert to the app to notify you that there might be a break-in. Or, if it hears a smoke alarm going off it can tell you, wherever in the world you might be.

The tiny house supports what Intel calls scenes. A scene takes multiple devices and links them together to create a single action. For example, say a command when you are leaving the house. The doors will lock automatically and the lights will turn off.