Smart homes have become more and more popular over the years, and will only continue to do so as we continue to find new ways to keep our loved ones safe while improving our lifestyles. In 2020 we saw the rise of voice assistants such as Google Assistant and Alexa, this year we’re expecting to see the rise of many more smart home devices. These connected devices include smart locks, lights, and robot vacuums! Additionally, because most people are spending a lot more time at home than in the past, smart security systems have become extremely popular and will only continue to be for the foreseeable future.
Smart Homes in More Than Just Houses
When smart homes first began, they were very expensive and typically only owned by wealthy homeowners. Today, smart home devices are being used in not only homes, but apartments, hotels, and office buildings. As a result of Covid-19, it is predicted that new technologies and product offerings will be targeted at the real estate industry, especially for multi-family apartment dwellings. So it is safe to say that we will see smart home devices and installations becoming a much bigger part of the apartment industry in 2021. These products such as connected locks, smart thermostats, and voice assistants will go from novel items to something that apartment residents will simply expect to be included in their apartment or condo homes.
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Smart Lighting On The Rise
The evolution of smart homes has gone from people taking care of their homes, to now in many ways, the homes taking care of their people. A huge factor to our daily lives that we too often overlook, especially in our current global environment, is our lighting. Lighting affects our mood, daily routines, and our well-being more than we realize. In 2021, the options are endless with smart lighting. With the ultimate control available with apps, switches, and voice control, any user can create the perfect mood and ambiance for any time of day. Smart lighting can help you get energized in the morning, keep you concentrated as you work from home, and help you relax and unwind in the evening. Just imagine, being able to transform a space from a bright office to a cozy corner to enjoy a book with the press of a button!
Another huge reason for adding smart lighting to your smart home is for entertainment. Due to Covid-19 this past year, many of us unfortunately did not get to gather with friends and family as we normally would. As we move into the new year, entertainment is going to become a big priority again and smart lighting will be necessary to make any party or gathering enjoyable. Most smart home systems allow your lighting to be synched with your sound system, television, voice assistants and more. This allows you to create the perfect scenes for any occasion. For example if you are throwing a christmas party, you can set up your system to display red and green lights while also playing your favorite christmas music on your sound system.
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Understanding Your Space
What attracts most people to smart homes is the idea of a home that orchestrates a seamless experience. From the smooth and effortless of one’s blinds opening in the morning, to the dynamic synchronization of lights and music that plays perfectly for the specific type of day. Perhaps even more important than a smart home working perfectly, is a smart home that helps us accomplish more. In order for a smart home to achieve all of these expectations, there needs to be the added ingredient of spatial-understanding within the home. For example, spatial understanding is how a robot vacuums autonomously clean houses without banging into furniture and counters.
Many people don’t realize that spatial understanding can be extending to many of your smart home devices. You can set up your devices so when you say “Alexa, turn on lights for movie time only around the couch” they do so rather than turning all your lights in your home on in this setting. The smart home leverages tools like Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant to be a listening sensor and utilizes spatial understanding to supply your lights and other functions where you need them.
Overtime, we have learned that there really is no limit to how awesome smart home technology is, and it is only improving in 2021 and the years to come. We only suggest that you learn from your devices and play around with them until you feel comfortable creating your own awesome settings for any given occasion.
