Patent ID: 7039698

Claim:
A method of establishing interaction with a notification device interfaced with a user and an environment having a plurality of devices where each device performs one or more functions within the environment with the one or more functions of each device being associated with various states, the method comprising: detecting a change of state at a first device; in response to detecting the change of state, referencing rules of device interaction that govern communication between the first device and a notification device, the rules of device interaction providing an association between the detected change of state of the first device, the notification device that is communicated with in response, and the content of the communication to the notification device interfaced with the user, wherein referencing the rules of device interaction further comprises detecting from the rules a hierarchy of notification devices and non-notification devices to communicate with in response to the detected change of state; and communicating with the notification device according to the rules of device interaction in response to detecting the change of state.