Smart homes and smart appliances are the new household trend
With smartphone apps, we can have 24/7 access to our homes
In this day and age, you can almost do anything with just a tap of your fingers. From online banking to online shopping, there's very little we can't control from our smartphones.
Even home appliances, such as kettles, coffee machines and vacuum cleaners, have gone smart. No longer is physical human interaction required - with the right mobile phone app, we can brew a morning cup of java without leaving the warm comforts of our bed, start slow-roasting our dinner from the office or have a little robot clean our house while we're tucked away in bed.
The word "smart" is thrown around a lot when describing these convenient pieces of appliances. This begs the question: what actually makes these appliances "smart"?
"The technical term of smart could mean many things," says Graham Donald, motor engineer at Dyson. "We like to think the smartness around [the products] comes from the fundamental design. Every little feature we add to the products make it come across as smart to the user, but this is [after] thousands of hours of testing and thousands of hours of engineering."
The Dyson 360eye, for example, is an "intelligent robot … with 360-degree vision technology". After 16 years of intensive research and development, Dyson is launching the new robot vacuum cleaner in Tokyo this month. It is set to hit Hong Kong markets next year.
Of the new model, James Dyson, founder of Dyson, says: "We've developed a unique 360-degree vision system that lets our robot see where it is, where it has been, and where it is yet to clean."
These details can be monitored on the accompanying phone app. "You can use the app to [check] the [robot's] performance - how well it has cleaned, how efficient it is, and [if there are] any faults with the robot, you will also be informed," Donald adds.
For the kitchen, British company Smarter's iKettle, touted as the world's first Wi-fi kettle, is another option available in the market. When connected to Wi-fi, users can boil water or brew a cup of tea with just a tap of their phone screen.
