Smart home? Or is it connected home? Yes? No? But you must have heard about the Internet of Things (IoT) by now…all these things are converging and the terminology is changing to cope.
Smart homes along with the automation of other buildings – are becoming more and more important because the technologies not only improve comfort, but can also save lots of energy and money.
Smart homes are still only a small part of the total UK housing stock, but they – along with the automation of other buildings – are becoming more and more important because the technologies not only improve comfort, but can also save lots of energy and money.
But now, smart home technologies are also entering other realms where the emphasis on smart appliances and sensors being hard-wired to centralised controllers is changing fast to multitudes of intelligent nodes (devices) being connected via Wi-Fi and/or the Internet to smartphone and tablet control.
Imagine a world where every domestic appliance automatically maximises energy efficiency and monitors its own health, in which homeowners receive intuitive home updates that make everyday life easier, and where security is integral. It’s coming…
Connected appliances will (and in many cases already do), range from smoke detectors to refrigerators (where greater electronic functionality can enable content/inventory management directly or via an app), from coffee makers to dishwashers, and many more instances really limited only by imagination. One’s connected lighting (say OSRAM’s Lightify or Philips’ Hue) can even talk to smart mattresses (why? That’s another matter) and also to Google Nest’s smart thermostats and security devices.
This connected world is one’s oyster and the above is almost the definition of the Internet of Things (IoT)! Taking things a stage further, there’s the Internet of Everything (IoE), which is now connecting the world in ways and extent as never before.
What does this mean in terms of the smart home and building automation? The answer is high speed ‘connectivity’ that will link the various sensors with the smart devices and controllers, which in many cases, will be smartphones, tablets or computers.
Today, as Cisco points out, there are overlapping, invisible networks – Wi-Fi (and now the much faster Li-Fi) and municipal networks, as well as 3G and now 4G. These provide more or less constant, wire-free connectivity with peoples’ mobile devices moving seamlessly (it is hoped) between them, uploading and downloading data. By 2020, Cisco and others put the number of connected entities – people or items or smart devices – at between 30 and 50 billion.
Homes and buildings are becoming part of this new technological revolution and - as part of the IoE – will also become important components of a whole world of connected devices and systems, including (for example), smart grids and smart cities.
Sensors are crucial elements
So connectivity is the bedrock of this smart home revolution, but smart and connected sensors are the keys to unlocking the ultimate potential –in smart homes and elsewhere. The development of low-cost sensors having wireless (or Li-Li) capability is bringing everything online, from the home and its many appliances and systems, including the family car (or motorcycle), to smart metering – or the equivalent done via an app on a smartphone, all the way to family pets and even human beings ourselves.
Such smart connected sensors are being continually developed and improved to cost-effectively measure a wide range of variables, including temperature, humidity, water levels, pressure, position, vibration, particulates, gas presence, light levels, human presence and many more.
These sensors enable the smart appliances and devices (the ‘things’ or nodes in the IoT) to monitor themselves and make operational adjustments or generate messages (which may be email, text, voice or other) in terms of their status. Some smart homes are even being ‘taught’ (using self-learning techniques) to tweet warnings, status and remarks to their owners!
Sensors are becoming more intelligent too. Take intelligent imaging. This encompasses face recognition, scene detection, content analysis, object tracking and image enhancement. There’s no point using a large number of motion sensors that do little more than ‘guess’ what is happening in a home, when it is possible to use just one hub or app that controls all of a smart home’s smart devices, works in the cloud and can actually sees what is going on in real time.
So, for example, an Australian security alarm can warn an Australian family on holiday in Rio when it is triggered. They can then watch the security camera’s video feed live. Alternatively, a third-party service could take a temperature (or other) reading and forward it via Twitter.
Ideal devices
Although not originally designed as smart home control devices, smartphones and tablets are actually ideal for the remote control for many of these new smart home, building automation, IoT and IoE technologies. This is because (apart from the fact that most people in developed counties now own them) not only do they allow users to monitor and adjust many different connected systems, but they also relay the data to the networks.
The rise in smart homes and other buildings is being driven by climate change legislation, by money and technology, but to realise the full potential, the prices of smart connected devices must fall – and they are. They can also save lots of energy (and therefore money) in a smart home through presence detection, for example, switching off lights when a room is unoccupied.
But billions of these devices use energy themselves and lots of it. So they, in turn, must also become less energy consuming. This is becoming possible with, for example, Bluetooth Low Energy, which consumes less power without sacrificing range. Again, as Cisco says, ‘When it costs almost nothing to put a solar-powered chip into or on to every new item, why not do it? Why not indeed!
But watch out for security
All of this is possible and much of it is happening already, and it will change all of our lives. A nightmare? Some might think so, but there are huge comfort, convenience, safety, economic, energy and money saving benefits too, not to mention security.
For example, a domestic Wi-Fi camera using intelligent imaging with facial recognition could analyse a room or other space and send alerts to the homeowner’s smartphone. Such a camera could see smoke in a room even before the smoke alarm detects it. It could even detect (and notify the homeowner) if there is an unannounced stranger in the house.
But there are potentially big security and privacy concerns too. The very fact of connectivity means a greater risk of hacking, virus and other attacks, therefore security issues will have to be taken seriously. So will privacy issues – otherwise many potential homeowner customers may be put off.
Finally…
The smart home is here. Building automation has been ‘here’ for many years. But it’s now becoming clear that the latest and fast developing IoT, smart connected device, wireless sensor and high speed network technologies are changing the game. ‘Connected home’ may indeed be a better description than ‘smart home’ for the future.
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