Once you peel away the “gosh-wow” veneer of smart technology and look at the bigger scheme of things, it’s pretty daunting to consider how close we are to being on the brink of having our entire homes Smart-fitted.
Whether this is a good thing or not is perhaps not the point at this time. What we need to recognize is that smart homes ARE coming. Heck, to an extent they are already here. The thing is, are we smart enough to live with the technology?
The IoT and you
I wrote about this very thing not long ago (you can read about it here) and what I came up with is a viable argument regarding how smart you want your home to be: Sure the technology is cool and think how impressive that special someone will be when you click a remote to dim the lights, another to light the fireplace and yet another to start the coffee maker. But how many items can you absorb?
Unfortunately at this point the Internet of Things (IoT) universe cannot yet be controlled soley with your smart phone. Personal security is another issue: it’s easy enough to get hacked when all you do is log on to your computer. What happens when your entire house is wired?
The future is now
Consumers have really only taken to and begun to embrace and access the potential of the smart home since the wildfire–like spread of smart phones and related devices. In fact, according to an article on Vibrantdoors.co.uk, “As a result of this continued transition, it’s expected that the global number of houses that have adopted smart home technology will double by 2018 from almost 100 million in 2014 to 200,000 – about 10% of all houses on the earth.”
Similarly, when the Vibrantdoors team surveyed followers as to what people’s biggest desire was for smart technology within their house:
- 65% of people want to use home-monitoring cameras and/or automatic outdoor lighting which can be adjusted.
- 68% wanted a master control for all household preferences.
- 71% of consumers wanted to be able to lock doors from a remote location – just in case they think they’ve forgotten.
- 72% stated a self-adjusting thermostat.
- 90% of people stated that the biggest motivator for the purchase of smart home technology system was home security.
The smart home. It’s here and it’s happening. The question is, can we keep up?
#SmartHome
