The global smart home market was valued at more than $79 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach $313.95 billion by 2026, with a compound annual growth rate of 25.3%, according to a recent report by Mordorintelligenc. .
The global trend of smart homes is constantly increasing, and the systems used have evolved greatly over the past few years. Everything inside these homes has become incredibly intelligent and censored. Parents can now, for example, monitor how long their children watch TV, with the option to turn off the screen remotely. If the little ones exceed the time allowed, or send a message to them to go to their bed at bedtime.
And when data collected from local weather stations indicates that rain will hit the east side of the house in exactly 5 minutes, the system tells the homeowner which windows are open on that side, which should be closed immediately.
If he's not at home and someone tries to burglarize him, a hidden smart speaker will explode with aggressive barking noises that terrify intruders.
These are some of the wonderful things that are now available in smart homes that are becoming more and more popular day by day in various parts of the world.
It appears that technology that operates automatically or remotely controls various household functions;
From lighting to safety, it is becoming a trend in the world, and the epidemic has had its role in this transformation, as the Corona pandemic forced us to stay long in our homes, and prompted us to spend more money on our amenities;
Such as amplifiers and smart control devices.
Do these tools make life better?
Are "smart homes" the way of the future or just a way for merchants to use more sophisticated marketing gimmicks?
And the most important question: Do we really need all this intelligence in our homes?
These questions were asked by the Australian writer and expert on technology, James Brutell, and discussed them at length in an article published by the ABC news platform a few days ago.
And everything can be "smart" even the water tap, and according to many experts and observers - as the writer conveys - locks, lights and doorbells that can be controlled through smart phones and programmed to perform tasks automatically have become a common thing in recent times, and as they say, these Just the start of a major change coming in our homes' relationship to technology.
In this context, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held in Las Vegas recently witnessed a rush to take advantage of this trend, as major brands in the world launched a range of connected smart devices;
From voice-controlled water faucets to camera-connected security doors that bark aggressively when a stranger approaches the house.
Other products featured at the fair include lots of cheap security cameras, a lamp that can track your sleep, heart rate and other biometrics using radar, another that can spread essential oils around the house, and a small device that uses air pressure, noise and motion sensors to detect intruders. A front door that combines power, lights and sensors, a video doorbell and a smart lock that looks like a normal door, and a new smart home operating standard designed to make connected home devices work together.
Market research firm Telsyte predicts that the average family home in a country like Australia, for example, will have more than 10 connected devices by 2025. Most of these new devices will be smart power outlets, speakers and light bulbs, as well as doorbells It operates with video, remote-activated locks, and security cameras, Brutell says in his article.
The smart home industry is moving towards adopting a new concept known as "context awareness" (communication sites)
Home automation and context awareness
The writer believes that this is only the beginning, as the smart home industry pushes towards adopting a new concept known as “Contextual Awareness”, which means that the home environment adapts to the desires and “routine” of its residents.
For example, alarms read the owner’s work schedule and adjust themselves accordingly, health sensors detect signs of illness and automatically order medicines, and programs control the degree of light and play music according to their reading, the habits of the person living in the house or even his apparent mood.
In these homes, pool pumps can automatically turn on at midday when the rooftop solar array is producing excess energy, security cameras can be trained to distinguish between an honest person and an intruder, light switches can be activated by voice commands, and blinds can shine with the sun. Televisions can come alive when a person rolls over on the sofa.
There are many, many things that are possible in these homes;
For example, preparing the bathroom before waking up, increasing the degree of sunshine on your window half an hour before waking up, or even turning on the coffee maker before you get out of bed.
But do you really need it?
If a home that is aware of your presence, and can automatically turn off the lights, seems "infernal" to you, or at least makes no sense, you're not alone.
In 2020, researchers from Australia's Monash University interviewed families in Victoria and New South Wales to find out their thoughts on "industry insights" for how most people live in the future, and the results of the study were posted on the university's platform at the time.
Some were enthusiastic at first about the possibilities of high-tech, but the majority eventually decided that this "bright future" did not fit into their lives, said Carrie Dahlgren, one of the study participants.
“The research was trying to understand new, glamorous technologies that people could accept in their homes,” says Carey. “We found that there was an initial acceptance of these technologies, but after a while they saw that this future did not necessarily match the life they wanted; no one wants lawn mowers. mechanism".
There are many people who prefer manual control in their homes, even if this requires more effort, and in fact, this effort may be a pleasure for many people, for example, caring for the garden, planting roses and trees, mowing excess grass or even the pleasure of making coffee in the morning, is Small pleasures, but they mean a lot to people.
The companies that design these systems have centralized consoles and are able to access the most accurate secrets of all family members (communication sites)
Houses without secrets
All of the above is not measured by the question of privacy, as confirms Brutell, who wonders: Who wants the companies designing these smart systems to know everything about their private lives among their families, as there are never secrets in these homes;
The companies that design these systems have centralized consoles and are able to access all the family’s best kept secrets. They know when you sleep and when you wake up, what you watch on TV, what type of meals you like, who visits you, and who doesn’t;
They simply know the smallest details of your life and the lives of all your family members.
But this is not measured in the event of any leakage or penetration of data by third parties, intruders or information hackers who are spread everywhere in the world;
They can, if they hack your data, access all your family, social and even financial secrets.
And there is another thing that may be the most dangerous at all, and may cause the destruction of the family and social fabric, which is the ability of family members to spy on each other, and why not, everything is recorded in these houses where there are no secrets at all.
Who can live without little secrets?