Smart Home Trends
With technology becoming increasingly prominent and useful every day, humans are growing more and more connected to our smart devices. Day in and day out, the aid and efficiency of technology is at our fingertips, so it only makes sense that these high-tech helpers are transitioning into the household as well. Not only can technology in your home be helpful, it can also be extremely conducive to safety, entertainment, sustainability, and can even help you save money over time! The trend of integrating technology into homes to create what are called “Smart Homes” is expected to increase tremendously over the next decade. Tremendously as in – the home device market is expected to increase $120 million over the next 10 years!
So, what are smart home devices exactly? Some of the most common and available options we have come to notice are smart doorbells with integrated video technology, smart speakers like the Amazon Echo, and even smart thermostats and smart lightbulbs that can adjust their temperature or vibrance depending on the time of day and other weather conditions. There are many more exciting innovations in this field, and the options and opportunities only continue to grow! Below are 5 exciting smart house trends that could be taking center stage this year.
Connectivity across platforms.
With countless options for smart home devices being introduced to the market every day, narrowing down your choices can be overwhelming. Different manufacturers follow different standards and operate on different platforms. Having varying apps, platforms, and quality levels for each smart device in your home can grow a bit tedious and can even result in security vulnerabilities. This market is beginning to see industry leaders like Amazon, Google, and Apple band together to set standards for the quality and connectivity of smart home devices to ensure safety and efficiency within their customers’ homes! With moves like this being made in the industry, it will be much easier for customers to purchase devices and solutions that can be connected with many existing smart home systems.
Truly “Smart” Homes – Machine Learning Leads the Way.
Many of the existing “smart” devices that we are familiar with are indeed helpful and high-tech but are not necessarily “smart” in the sense that they can learn and make decisions over time. For example, automated window blinds can be programmed to be raised and lowered at certain times of the day, but without pre-programming those actions the blinds themselves cannot learn your waking and sleeping habits and react to them. So, while these blinds are in fact innovative and high-tech, they cannot claim the title “smart”.
However, capabilities like machine learning, voice and language processing, computer vision, and various kinds of AI-driven technology are expected to be developed and implemented over the coming years to make our technology truly “smart”. AI-driven technologies making their way into homes include products like the smart refrigerator. These refrigerators can “see” what you have in your fridge with the use of computer vision and have the ability to then make grocery lists based off of what products are usually kept in the fridge.
Domestic Robots.
Ever seen the robotic vacuum cleaners that maneuver their way around a home and miraculously don’t get stuck against walls? That’s a domestic robot! It helps its owners complete a task and is able to regulate its own movements and actions. With innovations being made in the field of artificial intelligence all the time, the capabilities of smart robots are only expected to grow and grow.
Domestic robots are being developed to provide aid in a range of services from cooking to cleaning to companionship and even to healthcare! Robots specializing in healthcare can be a massive aid to young and elderly people alike by measuring day-to-day statistics like one’s quality of sleep, movement, and nutrition as well as more interventionist capabilities such as calling for help, connecting with medical professionals, and even aiding in illness diagnosis.
Intuition in the Kitchen.
Let’s get to the pièce de résistance here – smart kitchens. As one of the busiest focal points of a home, a kitchen needs all of the smart tech help that it can get! The latest smart kitchen technology is extremely smart yet sleek so that the products integrate nicely into the aesthetic of your kitchen. AI features that are exciting smart home fans everywhere include voice and gesture reading technology that can open cupboards, change the lighting, turn on the sink, and even compile your grocery list. For example, Moen has developed the U smart faucet that is completely hands free and capable of dispensing precise amounts of water at whatever temperature you desire just by the sound of your voice. Who knows – as smart kitchen technologies continue to evolve, you just might get the (electronic) sous-chef you’ve always wanted!
We hope you agree that smart home technology is an industry to keep your eye on! It is an exciting space full of innovation and efficiency that has a bright future in enriching the lives of homeowners everywhere. The smart home tech features stated above are just the beginning, and personally, we can’t wait to see where it goes!
