Your future home will be web-connected, but it won't look as stark and robotic as you'd think.
In just a few years, you'll awake in the morning to the sound of your alarm, and the hidden sensors in the room will know you're getting up. The lights will automatically, but gradually turn on and the thermostat will warm the rooms you're about to use — the bathroom, the kitchen and, a few minutes later, your car.
The coffee will start to brew. You'll get push notifications about the weather. Your kitchen will remind you which ingredients you'll need to pick up on your way home from work and the items you'll want to include in dinner that night before they spoil. When you leave the house, you'll press a button via an app that will self-drive your car out of the garage.
Right then, security measures will then snap into place. House doors will automatically lock. Appliances will switch to an energy-saving mode. When the house senses you're on your way back (using geofencing technology as your smartphone crosses a certain mile radius), it will get ready for your arrival — the thermostat will warm things up, the garage door will open as you pull up, and your favorite music will start to play when you walk in.
" In many ways, all of the technology for this to happen is already there; it's more about making consumers aware of those possibilities," Alex Hawkinson, CEO and founder of SmartThings, told Mashable. "In the past year alone, more people are getting interested in having a smart home as the prices go down and word-of-mouth spreads."
Hawkinson started his company, which was acquired by Samsung last year and is a part of the Korean-manufacturer's huge push to get the home connected, when his house flooded and didn't find out until much later. He developed an alert system that would inform home owners when something was wrong and turned it into a successful smart-home company.
Now, SmartThings and Samsung are on a crusade to create the world's most open platform, allowing devices from other manufacturers to work together. As of right now, most companies are focused on building their own proprietary technology rather than joining forces to allow products from other companies to "talk" to each other, like a Samsung refrigerator talking to your LG TV (e.g. the garage could send you a message as you watch Game of Thrones that you left the door open).
"We are past the phase where early adopters are connected, with millions of households involved," Hawkinson said. "But before we see tens of millions of smart homes, we'll all need to work together. We're getting there."
The look (Image: Refinery29)
Although the common vision of the future home is a robotic and impersonal one, Hawkinson said the approach will be an extension of home decorating.
"Everyone is different; some people like a modern house, but in my home, you can't even tell it's connected," Hawkinson said. "Lights look like a switch. The TV looks like a TV. The home reacts around us, but you'd never really know by looking at it."
During the 2015 International CES, fashion website Refinery29 designed a tricked-out home that included dozens of Internet of Things products — which refers to household products that are web-connected and can be controlled via an app — by blending style, functionality and technology. From sensors that monitor how you sleep to automatic fish feeders and 3D-printed bras, it showcased how the millennial woman could introduce some of these high-tech products into her daily life — but all in a very subtle, unobtrusive way. Check out the video below to see how these products can be incorporated naturally.
See Video (Refinery29)
Some believe the bedroom, living room, garage and kitchen will be the most connected rooms in the home. For example, Whirlpool believes surfaces will play a big role in the kitchen. The company showcased how surfaces will act like touchscreens and integrate with video conferencing (e.g. if you need to ask mom about a recipe), text messages and alerts from social-network feeds. You'll be able to put a pot or skillet anywhere on a surface, and it will detect the item, and start heating it up.
Meanwhile, "smart vessels" or containers in the refrigerator will know which ingredients are sitting in your fridge, alert you when they're about to spoil and tell you what to make for dinner. The company said we'll likely see this type of innovation in the kitchen by 2020.
Whirlpool, along with other companies like LG and Samsung, are banking big on connected washers and dryers, too — many of which now integrate with Google's Nest thermostat and smoke detector.
Nest recently announced more third-party products, such as dishwashers, appliances and car adapters, now integrate with its thermostat and smoke detector. For example, LG and Whirlpool appliances go into energy-saving mode when Nest notices that no one is home.
But there are still challenges ahead. According to Mark Hung, research VP of Gartner, there needs to be one common industry standard for companies to work with, rather than the many options available now.
"There are too many different industry groups and vendors trying to be the Internet of Things standard and some have big players behind them," Mark Hung, research VP of Gartner, told Mashable. "That is why there was a call to action by Samsung at CES this week to set aside their differences, so we can come to an agreement for a common set of standards."
"When the Internet first came around, the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) was established for the common web standard and we will need something similar for the Internet of Things," Hung said.
Security (Image: Mashable composite. Adrian Samson / Getty creative)
While there is no one-size-fits-all approach to equipping the home with smart technology, there is a key entry point for most people: feeling secure. In fact, according to Hawkinson, two-thirds of SmartThings users want to keep an eye on things while they're away, whether that's knowing if there is something wrong (like moisture in the basement) or if the kids aren't getting ready for school in time. It's also a popular solution for elderly care and looking in on aging parents.
"Smart home users start in one spot and then spread out," Hawkinson said.
While there is certainly interest, many consumers are concerned about the security and data collection implications of embracing a fully connected home.
"The biggest hurdle to the continued growth of smart home and the Internet of Things is lack of consumer trust," said TRUSTe CEO Chris Babel. "Smart home technology provides many benefits, but consumers must feel that they have some control over the personal data collected through these connected devices."
According to a recent company survey, only 20% of Americans feel that the benefits of smart devices outweigh any privacy concerns.
"This shows how companies must implement privacy by design, so consumers can feel safe using this technology in their homes. They don’t want to be left in the dark when it comes to how their data is handled."
Do we really need a connected homes?
In order for the smart home revolution to really take off, consumers need to see how it could transform their lives and whether the investment is worth it.
"Fundamentally, people have to see first-hand what the value of having a connected home will be," Hung of Gartner said. "Every nook and cranny of the home is being exploited by startups and big companies to put more power into it. Yes, we can do this, but why would someone want to do it? That is the real question."
Hung said that the industry will have to pull together to create this value proposition for people and that there really isn't a leader in the space right now.
"Apple is throwing its hat into the ring too, but it isn't the same company as it was when Steve Jobs was alive," Hung said. "If he was still running the company, he would come out with his vision for the smart home ecosystem and everyone else would follow suit. Although there are other innovators at the company now, it will more be about the industry as a whole working together and there will probably be a few iterations of it before we get it right."
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