Today’s home is becoming more technology enhanced. We often look for new trends that increase not only the value of a home but also the quality of the home life experience. While some gadgets have proven to be failures in the past, like the Segway or Google’s Glass, we have taken great strides in the right direction. Alexa, play something relaxing. Settle in and kick up your feet. Today, we’re going to highlight the top ten trends in smart home technology this year.
Home Security
Home security used to involve crews coming into your home, installing extensive wiring and signaling relays and hefty monthly monitoring fee to provide the service. Today, there is a movement toward the Wi-Fi enabled security, remote doorbell camera services, and motion detection that all coordinates directly with your favorite device. Answer the door while you’re away, close the garage door or lock your doors with a swipe of the phone or install a motion detection device to track your sleepwalking children.
Smart Kitchen
The kitchen is becoming more and more automated with push-button appliances and high-efficiency tech. Tap your refrigerator to look inside, without opening the door. Keep your grocery list digitally synced with your fridge and phone. Find a recipe with voice command.
Temperature Regulation
Optimize your temperature regulation with voice-activated controls or digital dashboards on your device. Maximize your energy efficiency with seasonal adjustments and during scheduled times away from home.
Entertainment
The televisions are getting bigger and virtual reality entertainment is growing more popular. Look for increased tech in the living room or family room spaces for hours of enhanced entertainment. Take your entertainment with you, room to room with smart television technology designed to recognize your location throughout the home. Tap into the whole home audio entertainment as well with voice command music and surround sound capabilities.
Smart Health
Smart beds that track your breathing and sleep quality, smart alarms that monitor your breathing and vitals and fitness devices designed to encourage physical activity are all trending in the modern home. Also look for increased use of water purifying units and hazard alert systems.
Utility Management
Air quality, water quality, and electricity usage monitoring are becoming more and more important to today’s homeowner. Devices designed to manage the environment and usage are all welcomed as tools for staying healthy, saving money and reducing energy waste. Control and manage lighting with the swipe of your phone or by voice. Be on the lookout for the automated water heaters and plumbing leak detection devices as well.
Home Maintenance
What started with the automated vacuum robot will soon expand into fully automated AI to help keep up with house cleaning and maintenance. The automated floor cleaning demand is growing as will the need for all things maid service. Prepare for a Jetsons future!
Devices & Gadgets
Consumers are expanding their preferences to include a variety of stand-alone smart devices for the home this year. Intelligent air diffusers, functional mirrors, one-touch espressos and more. Be on the lookout for more creative inventions this year to accommodate the routines and daily grind, often enhancing the home experience altogether.
Hands-Free Everything
The popularity of the artificial home assistant is on the rise. Watch for enhancements to capabilities with Amazon’s Alexa, Microsoft’s Cortana, Google’s Assistant, and others. Whether ordering products, playing music or asking general knowledge questions, the in-home virtual assistant is proving to be a favored tech enhancement. Voice command everything and watch the remote control become a thing of the past.
Great Outdoors
While still relatively new in the market, the outdoor maintenance categories will be expanding. Mow your lawn from your smartphone. Much like the indoor artificial intelligent vacuums, be prepared to see more AI for the great outdoors.
What types of smart home technology are you using today? We plan to see considerable developments in all things home-related tech this year. Installing Apple’s Control4 or other home-based systems will become more popular and increase the value of a home.
For more insight into new smart home technology trends, or to find out more about Iowa City homes, contact us!
