From self-cleaning toilets to intelligent lighting: "smart" homes are here
Technologies once considered futuristic and unattainable are now within easy grasp of everyday homeowners
Bathroom mirrors that turn into flat-screen televisions and air conditioners that turn on before you get home, while wooden work desks light up with a sweep of a hand.
“Smart” homes, once the purview of the wealthy or tech-obsessed, are an increasingly accessible aspect of modern living, with technologies once considered futuristic and unattainable now within easy grasp of everyday homeowners.
“Pretty much every project I'm working on, the client requests some sort of hi-tech application,” says Wendy Raizin, founder of Raizin Design in New York, Miami and Los Angeles. “Throughout all different levels, worldwide, people are taking advantage of technology in their homes.”
The applications range from practical (security systems that enable you to see what's going on in your house from thousands of kilometres away) to indulgent (sensor-controlled bidets that wash and dry). But there is no disputing that the category is a burgeoning one.
At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in early January, interest in smart-home technology was so strong that, for the first year, the event had its own dedicated marketplace.
“With the rapid growth in the smart home category, we are creating a dedicated area where attendees will find the range of smart home technologies coming to market,” says Karen Chupka, senior vice-president of international CES, and corporate business strategy of organiser CEA. Chupka says “homeowners are embracing the convenience and comfort that technology can bring with customised access to appliances, lighting and heating, window coverings, irrigation and entertainment systems”.
The options appear endless: Tecnalia, a research company in Spain, is working on touch technology for smart furniture and home equipment; one of its latest products involves sensors embedded into furniture, including desks and headboards, that respond to touch, causing the item to light up without the use of light switches.
Brio, a US company, has unveiled a new safe and smart electrical outlet which eliminates the risk of electric shock; its microcontroller technology can distinguish between people and electrical items. The company also makes a wireless detector that provides a warning if there is smoke, a carbon monoxide leak or flooding in the home, by sending out a warning through a smartphone.
British company Finite Solutions designs systems for homes where homeowners can control access through entrance gates, lighting and heating throughout the house, whether the blinds should be drawn in a third floor bedroom, all through a touch of a button. Every detail is thought of: when the phone rings, the music playing on a sound system is automatically muted. On a hot day, blinds automatically close.
Enblink, located in the United States and Seoul and a leader in the smart home field, makes a gizmo that allows users to manage lighting, security and other issues from iOS and Android smartphones and tablets: options include being able to unlock your home door from another location for an unexpected guest.
Major appliance makers, such as LG, are integrating everyday kitchen equipment with apps, allowing for a seamless way to control appliances without the need for a clunky control board.
“Now, there can be one very easy entry point for all the equipment in a home,” Raizin says. “Security systems in particular are more accessible. It's very simple for people to wire their homes with cameras inside and outside, and they can look in on the videos themselves from wherever they are, or hire a security firm to do it."
Raizin advocates a common sense approach. “I don't think that any of these new things are a hundred per cent necessary for day-to-day lives,” she says. “Of course, they do improve them. The idea of having an item or appliance that can do double duty – such as a mirror that is also a TV – is nice for people who have smaller spaces. And there are toilets that do everything – wash and dry, and clean themselves. They never have to be touched.”
She advocates checking out crowdfunding sites for innovations, and helping support makers of products that you would like to become available.
“Eventually, a lot of those great ideas will trickle down,” she says.
