Open Access

Testing applications for SmartHome environments is quite complicated, since a real environment is not accessible or the conditions are not controllable during development time. The need to set up the whole hardware environment, increase the complexity of these systems enormously. Therefore, it is helpful to simulate the SmartHome hardware components and environment conditions (e.g. rain, heat, etc.). This paper contains an approach to improve the test and demonstration process of Internet of Things scenarios. A prototype (ScnSim: Scenario Simulator) was developed to set up scenarios. The user of the ScnSim can create her/his own scenario using items (sensors/actuators) and rules, which control the sensors and actors building the IoT enviornment. This simulator is supposed to support the user testing IoT applications or configurations of SmartHome platforms like openHAB. In addition, the ScnSim is supposed to help demonstrating showcases, for example, often demonstrated on a trade fair or as a proof of concept for a customer.