If you’ve ever seen a modern smart home (I mean one running the highest of technology) it looks like science fiction. Human-centric design, ultra-efficient operations and a footprint like a ghost, a modern smart home, can think and react as quickly as occupant needs arise. However, future smart homes may soon be able to do far more than that thanks to a growing desire for healthier living spaces and ecologically sustainable practices.
According to Cecilia Harvey founder of Tech Women Today, we can expect some very interesting smart home innovations that will act as natural evolutions to modern-day health and sustainability goals.
Biometrics Galore
According to Cecilia, biometric sensors will play a huge role in future smart home design, in more ways than one. The first would be to monitor occupant vitals and ensure everyone within a home is healthy. Upon detecting anything out of the usual norm, the home could notify the occupants and in extreme circumstances such as a medical emergency, even notify the proper authorities.
Aside from that, however, biometric sensors can connect to lighting and HVAC systems to adjust dynamically in accordance with personal biometrics. This would mean that each room in a home would always be adjusted to an occupant’s personal comfort, whether that’s being kept cool while working out, or maintaining a more natural daytime temperature to support mental activity while working.
These biometric sensors would also be used, then, to appropriately activate and deactivate these systems as occupants move throughout a home, making energy consumption more efficient and sustainable.
Environmental Security Monitoring
While many homeowners think of security cameras when they think of visibility in a home, that should only be part of a future smart home’s design. As more and more people seek insight into the day-to-day operations of environments they visit, it only makes sense that this expectation will one day extend to the home.
While available today, these environmental monitoring technologies are expected to reach full profusion. Control networks will be able to display the operational status of systems in a home, in addition to environmental information. Say a pipe begins to leak. Sensors within the home would be able to detect elevated moisture within a section of the house and notify the homeowner of needed maintenance. Another example would be informing users when solar panels aren’t charging properly.
Make no mistake, however, security will still be a core concern, and biometrics will play a key role in that, according to Cecilia. Visitors approaching the front steps of a home could have their biometrics scanned via outdoor cameras with homeowners being notified of their approach. Individual rooms within a house could also be monitored in the case of children, with parents being notified if a child were to enter an off-limits area of the house.
Unified Appliance Ecosystems
The long-sought-for universally connected ecosystem of appliances people were first promised with IoT hasn’t arrived just yet, but smart device protocols like Matter are making greater and greater strides to connect the home across all parts.
And the advancement of appliances themselves will make for some truly unique scenarios. Imagine a smart fridge being able to identify ingredients in a dish, pull up a recipe and then communicate with the stove to maintain proper cooking temperatures throughout, or communicate with a smart blender to aid in prep work.
Combining these advancements with an energy management system would even take it a step further, shutting down appliances automatically when not needed, or switching over to alternative energy, like that produced from solar cells, to avoid high-priced grid rates during peak hours.
