When IBM released the Aptiva in the 90's, they also had an idea to create a whole suite of home automation hardware and software. Eventually it didn't pan out well so they sold off the rights to the 'Home Director' software and hardware much like most of their products, unfortunately. The Home Director was marketed to run with an Aptiva on Windows, and there were many modules and packages you could get, such as:
*Home Director Starter Kit
*Home Director Universal Remote Control Kit (HDRC1)
*Home Director Room Expansion Kit
*Home Director Video Satelite Amplifier (1HV00502)
*Home Director Router
*Home Director Wall Outlet (SR227 / HD227)
*Home Director 3 Way Wall Switch (HDWS3-1)

It appears that as the Home Director neared its life, the emphasis on the Aptiva also was dropped.

As this was fairly early home automation technology (really IBM is a technology company of 'firsts' and basically did everything first before anyone else-- this also being no exception), it communicates over your power grid instead of with something like bluetooth or ethernet. In a strange way if someone was concerned about security, this would definitely be a form of security through obscurity this is an obsolete technique.

Directly ripped from the CD-ROM that comes with the Home Director starter pack. You'll need an older version of Windows to run this (if you are considering setting up your home with Home Director stuff, run it on a VM with a compatible version of (old) Windows and ensure the VM has access to the computer's serial port.

More information and documentation to come soon, I just need to crunch through it all.

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