Smart Home:The Backbone

The backbone of a smart home is a fast and stable broadband connection, as all your devices need to be able to communicate with each other and other services constantly. In the UK there is a great freedom of choice when it comes to internet providers with advancements in 4G technology and Fiber broadband means that in most cases there should be a good connection.

For rural areas, 4G is going to be a good driving force to help get a better connection, and hopefully more and more companies will continue to roll out fiber connections to more homes. As long as there is active connection, the devices will be able to communicate with all connected services.

CONNECTED APPLIANCES

In the next stage of creating the smart home, internet connected appliances that link with other services to fit into the overall connected smart home experience. Majority of the concept devices already exist such as washing machines and dishwashers that will alert you via text or email when their cycles are done, and fridges that will intelligently monitor their contents and alerts you when things are about to expire or have run out. It is expected that over the next few years we'll see a rapid increase in the availability of such appliances, as well as smaller appliances like toasters and kettles. Companies like Samsung, LG, SONY and others are all showing off their appliances of the future, there are expectations to be able to buy an entire smart home kit quite soon that will contain everything needed to set up a smart, connected home.

A SMART HOUSE

Other examples like this include smart windows and blinds that will automatically dim or shut when the light gets too bright or when the sun goes down. An extension of the entire smart home may involve a digital voice assistant such as Google Now and Siri. These could come in very handy for accomplishing smaller tasks - you could simply ask it "order some extra steaks for dinner tonight" and it will go online and order from your favorite supermarket. It's unlikely to be quite as smart as Jarvis from Ironman just yet, but given time it is possible in the future. We've talked about  devices and appliances, but what about the actual building itself? How can we make these smarter? Well adding things such as smart door locks that can lock and unlock with your phone, rather than needing a key. This can also enable you to unlock the doors remotely or grant temporary access for someone looking after the house while you're away. It will also keep track of who enters and when so you can be sure all your family is home safely. It's likely that paper-thin touchscreens will be on the walls as well, so that your whiteboard and calendar become a fully interactive screen that updates automatically and is always ready to send out that information to each family member's phone or other device.

STANDARDIZED CONNECTION

When talking about a smart, connected home, we often just look at the devices that are actually doing the controlling. However, perhaps more critical to the functioning of a smart and connected home are the services that allow the devices to speak with each other. At the moment, most smart devices each need their own app in order to control them from your phone, but ideally is to have one master app that can control all of them. Whilst this is easy to accomplish if all your devices come from one manufacturer, when you start to pick up devices from a range of different companies, things start to get a bit tricky. However, there doesn't appear to be a standard on the near horizon, hopefully one will come soon that will make it easier for to get our smart homes up and running.

A smart home is made up of lots of smaller components that create the connected whole, and even if you just have a few you'll enjoy the benefits. What excites you most about the future of smart homes? Let us know in the comments below!