{"id":15337,"date":"2023-09-21T20:45:29","date_gmt":"2023-09-21T17:45:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/?p=15337"},"modified":"2023-09-21T20:45:31","modified_gmt":"2023-09-21T17:45:31","slug":"how-close-are-we-to-the-smart-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/?p=15337","title":{"rendered":"How close are we to the smart home?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The time is 7 in the morning. The alarm clock rings in the bedroom and Karina opens her eyes. The house starts to wake up with her. With an imperceptible noise the blinds on the balcony are raised at the scheduled time so that sunlight fills the room. At the same time, the air conditioning is activated to cool the rooms and the purring of the coffee machine can be heard from the kitchen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Karina is still in bed, taking a quick look at the morning news. Before getting up, he turns on the lights of the next room, which he uses as a gym, from the mobile screen. When entering, and before starting the exercises, he activates the Google Nest with voice commands and while he is working out, he is informed about the weather, traffic and listens to music. When I ring her bell, she opens the front door also giving a command from the mobile. The coffee is ready and in the living room the smart curtains open with a touch on the smartphone touchscreen, letting the light in. We sit on the front balcony. He sees that some rays of sunlight are blinding me and, again from the mobile phone, lowers the awning a little. “It’s a bit like magic, isn’t it?” it tells me. Yes, she too, as she sits across from me holding her smartphone-magic wand, looks like a 21st century witch or puppeteer moving the invisible strings that connect her hands to every device that works in her smart home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smart lamps and robot vacuum cleaners<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A smart home is one that has devices connected to the internet, which can be controlled and monitored remotely through a central application installed on a mobile phone, tablet or other connected device, thus being able to set up, program, to operate the lighting, heating, security system, etc. The appearance of smart home technologies is already several decades old, but it is in recent years that an impressive increase in smart devices and their popularity has been observed. Lamps, sockets, water heaters, heating\/cooling, audio and visual systems, washing machines, cooking appliances, curtains, doors, windows, vacuum cleaners can now be operated with a touch of the touch screen or with a voice command, and their operation can also be set based on user needs and habits. That is, not only can one activate the heating on the spot when he wants to heat the house, but he can also create scenarios based on which the heating of the house will work. For example, the heating system starts its operation every day at 7 am, ensures 20 degrees Celsius in the bedroom, living room, bathroom and kitchen, 17 in the guest room and gym, 15 in the warehouse, the temperature drops to the whole house at 17 degrees during the day that the occupants are away and rising again to 20 degrees at the time they are expected to return. And if they want their space to be clean as well, they can give an order from the car on the way home to the robot vacuum cleaner to do a sweep-mop!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Smart homes give users the ability to control devices and functions, increasing comfort and convenience in everyday life. This control can also be done remotely, from anywhere in the world. They also typically include security apps, such as surveillance cameras and smart locks, that enhance household security. Finally, smart homes can “learn” the habits of their occupants and adjust the functions of the devices to meet their needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rise of smart devices and systems is due to a number of reasons. Technological advances in the field of artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things have made it possible to integrate smart capabilities into a multitude of devices and systems, which are constantly being enriched and upgraded \u2013 and extended to more devices and systems. The convenience and comfort that these applications ensure in everyday life and the fact that they have a lower energy and environmental footprint and provide more security \u2013 smart locks and alarm systems, cameras, etc. \u2013 make them increasingly popular with consumers, who integrate into their lives to simplify obligations and tasks, save time and money and reduce their carbon footprint. The period of lockdowns also gave consumers an opportunity to familiarize themselves with smart home applications, when billions of people stayed at home and looked for ways to simplify and make their everyday life more pleasant. Technology companies, for their part, now have the know-how to develop ever more sophisticated such systems to stake their claim in this highly competitive yet lucrative market \u2013 and they are doing so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tech giants and multi-billion dollar corporations such as Google, Apple, Amazon, Honeywell, Xiaomi, Crestron Electronics are staking claims for a share of the growing market and ever greater penetration into the world’s households. \u201cThe Xiaomi Ecosystem division was established in 2014, and in 2016 we officially launched Xiaomi Home\/Mi Home, which achieved revenues of over 13 million euros, while the annual sales of the 77 companies under the ecosystem reached 13 billion euros.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And so smart devices are now on the shelves of every home and technology retailer and the value of the global smart home market reached $98 billion in 2023 and is expected to exceed $582 billion by 2032 as it records a growth rate nearly 22% annually. The countries of North America are of course the champions in the supply of such devices, while the countries of Asia record the highest growth rate in the market. The market value in Europe was $26.7 billion in 2022 and is expected to exceed $41 billion in 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n

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A smart move<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This path was followed \u2013 as she explains to me \u2013 by Karina Pereira, a Microsoft executive, who decided a few years ago to renovate her parents’ house and settle there. The research she did to incorporate green technologies into her home led her to smart home technology, which excited her. The heated floor that runs through all the rooms is controlled by a central system, as is all the lighting in the interior, on the balconies and in the warehouse, and the alarm system. “I enjoy these conveniences and finally live in a house that facilitates my daily life,” he tells me with satisfaction. “And of course the smart home is also a smart move. It ensures me, in addition to comfort, financial stability and security. I can monitor the consumption of each lighting source and also the heating and adjust their operation if I want to limit energy consumption and of course costs. Also, the security systems I have installed give me a feeling of protection against intruders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smart Airbnbs and offices<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smart home applications are already being used by the owners of some Airbnbs, while this type of automation is gradually being adopted in offices as well. Landlords can give tenants access through the app with a code that changes each time and also check if someone has left the lights, air conditioner or water heater on and intervene without even having to go to the property. The same happens in some hotels or rooms for rent. Also, in the offices, great energy savings are achieved through the control of lighting or air conditioning. For example, lights or air conditioners can be programmed to turn off when certain areas, such as meeting rooms or the kitchen, are not in use, or be phased out while offices are vacated, or presence sensors are installed that, when no movement is detected, transmit to the application the message to turn off the lights or air conditioning in the specific area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hackers who\u2026 flashing lights<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comfort, convenience, economy, lower environmental footprint, security are the main advantages of a smart home. Problems and failures in operation can of course occur, mainly due to problems with the internet connection or from some power outage. But the main concern of users is cybercrime. The most suspicious take action, although consumers are generally undeterred, thinking that the worst that could happen would be, for example, a hacker\u2026flashing their lights \u2013 not quite, a hacker can get access to the alarm system or sensitive and often valuable personal data, for which he can extort large sums of money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In any case, as technology advances and costs decrease, an ever-increasing number of households will embrace smart home technology. These systems will become even more intelligent, capable of learning and anticipating users’ needs and automatically adjusting their operating settings to increase their energy efficiency and the comfort they offer. At the same time, they will provide a personalized experience based on the needs and habits of the members of each household. Also, in the future these systems will be extended to areas such as monitoring health indicators and entertainment.” How much smarter will our homes become? Predictions suggest that they will extend to all aspects of everyday life. How smart it will be, however, will be decided by each user.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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