When “Smart House” aired on Disney Channel in 1999, it was something far beyond imagination. Smart home technology has come a long way, thankfully without trying to take over the role of someone's mother. New technology for the home has really taken off, with devices in every room of the house.
Smart trends are no longer limited to the most exclusive homes or saved for upgrades years from now. In fact, people are buying homes today with an eye toward existing smart home technology that is already built-in. These are some of the biggest smart home technology trends happening right now.
1. Integration
One of the top smart home trends for 2021 is how fully integrated smart home technology is. As mentioned earlier, it became almost an expectation rather than a luxury, and with increased expectations came connectivity and ease of use.
From a pure integration perspective, more and more smart home devices are starting to communicate with each other. For example, you can install Google Home speakers in multiple rooms of your home and have them work in groups rather than as individual units. Philips Hue lighting systems control lighting throughout your home, allowing you to turn lights on and off throughout your home according to your schedule and needs, according to specific routines you create.
When your smart refrigerator detects that you're low on milk, it may add it to your shopping list stored on your Amazon Alexa device. Connectivity is key to expanding your smart home system.
Ease of use continues to evolve. You don't need to be tech-savvy to set up many smart technology devices. With a smartphone, a Wi-Fi connection, and an electrical outlet, most people are set up to connect many devices, lowering the barrier to entry for smart home technology overall.
2. Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things
Thanks to voice assistants like Amazon Alexa and Siri, most people are familiar with at least some aspects of AI capabilities. Artificial intelligence continues to evolve to better understand commands and respond in better ways. Smart home AI helps residents play music, update to-do lists, and turn lights off and on.
Understanding the Internet of Things (essentially taking everything in the world and connecting it to the internet) is still a complex process, but advances in the world of smart homes with respect to IoT are improving the way we live our lives. It will have a lot of impact on enrichment. It gets easier, especially with smart kitchens and smart bathrooms.
3. Touchless technology
This trend was already starting to permeate the smart home space, but the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated it in 2020 and 2021. You've probably seen touchless hand sanitizer dispensers in retail environments. They probably aren't smart-enabled, but they have potential. And the touchless concept is expanding.
For example, touchless doorbells are a new innovation that allows guests to announce their arrival without touching common surfaces that could spread germs. And of course, many household devices are controlled via mobile apps, so each individual with control only touches their phone, not the device itself.
4. Smart thermostat
Next to smart speakers, smart thermostats are one of the most widely adopted smart home technology devices. They are typically easy to install and fully customizable to suit your temperature preferences and habits, making it easy to adjust your home's environment from anywhere.
Smart thermostats are touted as being environmentally friendly because you can easily turn your heating and cooling on and off while you're on the go, and budget-friendly because using them can reduce your energy bills. Nest claims it can save U.S. customers an average of 10% to 12% annually on heating costs and about 15% on cooling costs.
5. Health Tech
Another trend accelerated by the pandemic is that many smart home technologies now focus entirely on, or at least emphasize, health benefits in 2021. As mentioned earlier, smart thermostats have been one of the most popular smart technology devices for some time, but now products are also integrating features such as humidity sensors to improve air quality. there is. Standalone humidity sensors are also a growing area.
Smart air purifiers and air conditioners are also on the rise to improve and maintain air quality during this global health crisis. Some smart doorbells now have built-in temperature checks, allowing them to test guests for one of the most basic Covid-19 indicators before letting them inside.
In smart home technology that hasn't been affected by the coronavirus, smart water filtration systems are helping your overall health. Going far beyond regular toilets, advanced smart toilets use sensors to analyze the user's waste and skin, with the hope that the user will be examined by a specialist before using the toilet. It goes so far as to provide insight into your health and alert you to any problems that may arise. The problem gets worse.
6. Exercises you can do at home
Health-related trends that have been further stimulated during the pandemic. With gyms and fitness studios closed and people spending more time at home, his technology-enabled at-home workouts will continue to grow in 2021. Mirror (acquired by Lululemon in June 2020), Samsung's smart trainer, and the Ultrahuman app built to connect to users' Apple Watches have all seen increased interest.
7. Home office
As the shift to working from home spreads, smart home innovations, especially for home offices, gained traction last year and continue to evolve as companies extend office closures or switch to hybrid or permanent work-from-home policies. Technologies ranging from noise-canceling windows to drown out your neighbor's lawn mowing to AI filters to hide your messy living room when you hop on a video call with your boss are part of the potential for growth in this space. It's just the beginning.
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8. Fast connection
One of the prerequisites for future smart homes is high-speed internet connectivity through mesh Wi-Fi. If your mesh Wi-Fi connects your main router directly to your well, slow connections and dead zones that occur when you move away from your router will be a problem of the past. Your entire home will now enjoy high-speed connectivity to the rest of your installed smart home devices.
9. High-tech security
To ensure the safety of all smart home technology inside, smart home security systems have been developed to protect the outside. As these devices become more interconnected, you'll be able to see what's going on in your home from anywhere and access controls from a distance (like opening a door for a delivery guy or seeing a suspicious person on the sidewalk). (for example, turning on lights).
10. Privacy features
Smart home technology faces problems with data breaches and security hacks. To remain relevant to today's savvy consumers, companies are evolving features that ensure users of these devices that their information and private lives at home are safe.