User:Nsup1126/Smart home technology

A Smart home technology is mainly any product that uses electricity and is on your home network and in your command. Most of these technologies use voice, remote control, or smartphones to regulate a home and make consumers lives easier and more sustainable.

History

The history of smart home technology started as a set of ideas. Between 1901 and 1920, the first "smart home technologies" were invented through home appliances. The first engine powered vacuum was invented in 1901 and was later turned to electric for more practicality. Much more were invented in the early 20th century including washing machines, irons, toasters, refrigerators, etc. These technologies were revolutionary for their time and set the tone for more technologies to be invented throughout the century.

In 1966, a device called the ECHO IV and kitchen computer was invented as the first smart devices. The ECHO IV device was able to compute shopping lists, turn on appliances and even control the temperature in a home. The Kitchen computer could store recipes and other functions. However, neither of these technologies were ever released to the public. The last technology invented before the dramatic increase in smart home technology in the beginning of the 21st century, was gerontechnology. This technology was designed to help senior citizens in calling for help. For example, the commercial where the old lady falls down and says, "Help, I've fallen and cant get up". Right before the 21st century, in about 1998, smart homes began to gain popularity. Different smart home technologies began to emerge and become more affordable for consumers. Consumers were now able to affordably control thermostat's and heating, TV's, doors, and even alarm clocks.

Uses

Technologies released in 2019

Every year, thousands of smart home technologies are released to the public. Consumers are looking for a three main things when it comes to buying smart home devices. These things include voice control, convenience and speed, and a centralized control center(app). All of the technologies listed below hit these main three fields and make them the most popular ones this year Below are some of the most popular new technologies released in 2019.

• Amazon Echo Family

• Brilliant Control

• Logitech Harmony Elite

• WiFi Smart Plug

• Smart Power Strip

• Surveillance Cameras

• Ring Doorbell

• Smart Lock

• ADT PLUS

• Smart lighting

In 2019, there are thousands of new smart home technologies. Although, the above are only a few of the technologies from this year, every year technologies to make your home life easier are released and invented.

Vulnerabilities

Some other vulnerabilities of smart home technologies increased exposure to radiation. With the rise of etch in the home, people become intertwined with their technologies and this can cause some hazardous effects. EMF radiation is transmitted through these devices and could cause potential problems including lack of sleep, lack of focus, heart problems, etc.

Benefits

The advantages of smart home technology are endless. Since their creation, smart home technologies have tried to adjust and change peoples homes and make them smarter and easier for consumers to use. Some of the advantages are listed below:

1. The ability to manage all smart home devices from one app from anywhere in the world. In the current day and age, consumers can now control lighting, heating, and almost all smart home devices from a single app on their smart phone.
2. Home security is at an all time high. Since the turn of the decade, smart home devices have made home security skyrocket. Devices like security camera's, doorbells that you can communicate through and motion sensors are a few of these devices that have made homes more secure in the 21st century.
3. Being able to be a greener home and more energy efficient. With the addition of key smart home technologies like remote control lighting and cooling allow consumers to be able to turn off and on their biggest energy usages by just the click of the button. Also, some devices can even be set to turn off when you leave and turn on when you come home.
4. Improved functionality and greater efficiency of appliances. Smart home technologies help to make your appliances become more functional. For example, if a consumer is cooking a chicken it can turn the oven off when the chickens internal temperature reaches the desired temperature. This makes over or under cooked food a thing of the past. Smart home technologies also can be voice controlled allowing consumers to be able to search the internet or even play music just by asking.
5. Keep an eye on pets/kids. Allows parents and or other consumers to lock doors or even look in to see what their kids or pets are doing. This is achievable by internal house camera's, remote control door locks and other smart home devices.
6. Cut cost on insurance. With resources and technologies like motion detectors, carbon monoxide detectors and etc., consumers are able to monitor their homes by just using a single app on their phone.

These advantages are why more and more consumers are investing in smart home technologies. However, some of these technologies are rather expensive and although prices are dropping, could prove problematic for those who cannot afford them.

The Future of Smart Home Technology

The future of smart home technology is rather unknown but some experts believe that it could cause a crisis in security and data mining. As, more and more technologies come out that store a multitude of data about the consumers home and person, the more risk there is for that home and appliances to become hacked. This security and privacy issue is believed to be one of the major drawbacks of smart home technologies and the future. However, with this risk comes plentiful reward. We could see huge advancements in AI technology and smart home devices that could help integrate new and old devices across the board for consumers. "According to Statista, there will be around 31 billion devices connected to the internet by 2020, and that number is supposed to grow to 75.4 billion by 2025." With the market for these smart homes on the rise, consumers everyday lives will continue to change. Unfortunately, for mainstream consumers this may be a ways away in the future. There is no affordable or easy way to connect/integrate all of these devices into a central control system and until this happens, mainstream smart homes are a thing for the future.