The smart home market was valued at $79.13B in 2021 and is expected to grow at an annual growth rate of more than 20% until 2030. Home automation is creating new possibilities for families that want to minimise the efforts and time spent on doing household chores or other daily activities. The ever-evolving technology and skilled people behind it allow you to cook, clean, work remotely and make any other activity you perform at home more pleasant.  

Home automation is developing new technologies that can make your residence smarter, safer, and cosier by utilising the internet. If you're interested in upgrading your dwelling sometime in the future, keep reading to understand more about this lifestyle.

 

Do you have wearables at home?

Wearable technology is all the rage, and it's been trendy for a long time now, as it makes everything less of a chore. Your house should be a top priority when you're looking for ways to minimise the efforts spent cleaning, exercising, etc. Such technology takes many forms, ranging from medical devices to clothes and gadgets. The name "wearable computing" suggests processing or communication capabilities, but in practice, the sophistication of wearables varies. Google glass, virtual reality (VR) headsets and artificial intelligence (AI) hearing aids are some examples of products that make your spare time more enjoyable and your work easier.

•  - Google glass is a wearable voice- and motion-controlled Android device which resembles a pair of glasses, only it displays data directly in your field of vision. Glass Enterprise integrates seamlessly into your workflow and helps you stay focused and concentrated on high-value work by eliminating distractions.
•  - A VR headset is a head-mounted device that replaces your natural environment with VR content, like a pre-recorded 360-degree VR environment, a movie or a game, allowing you to look around just like you do in the physical world.
•  - AI hearing aids work like analog programmable hearing aids, but have a plus. They transform sound waves into digital impulses and generate a replica of sound, providing a more precise sound.

Wearable technology is widely used in appliances, fitness trackers, smartwatches, and similar consumer devices. Interestingly, but not surprisingly, with recent breakthroughs in AI and the Internet of Things (IoT), wearable technology is being implemented in many settings, including professional sports, navigation systems, and even advanced textiles. 

Are you aware of the risks involved?

Phishing attempts are common in the “smart world” as hackers develop their techniques to steal information, hack accounts, and so on. Over half of the cybersecurity threats are phishing attacks in the UK and other countries worldwide, where people rely a lot on the internet.

If you ever feel like you receive a strangely good offer in an email, ad or other social media channel, or like an online negotiation is going weirdly smooth, please step back and analyse. You might foolishly fall into a cybersecurity threat. However, data breaches, scams and unwanted data disclosures are sometimes unavoidable, and if you happen to be involved in such misfortune and suffer financial or emotional harm, remember that you can reach out to a data breach claim solicitor. According to experts from https://www.databreachclaims.org.uk, you might sometimes be eligible to receive compensation, so you should gain as much evidence as possible about the event. Records and screenshots, correspondence with the organisation that can bring your case to light, and any evidence that can prove you've suffered losses due to misuse of data can help you and your lawyer win the claim. 

Keep track of financial records and medical expenses and diagnosis of your psychological injury. Sometimes, such incidents badly affect persons with underlying depression or mental health conditions, and the afferent symptoms of mental damage are described as non-material damage. Be aware that smartening your home comes with risks, avoid them as much as you can and know that there are solutions should exposure to technology put you in awkward, unfavourable situations.

How will smart homes look a decade from now?

The pace at which the population ages is faster now than in the past, as people focus more on work and careers than on children or family. Therefore, elders need more attention and care, as most of them live alone. To put your mind at ease that you'll live into your 70s, start learning about technological advances and incorporating them into your home.

There's a tendency to upgrade the existing house instead of trading it for a new one. This is a consequence of ever-developing technology that can transform indoors, removing the need to adjust rooms too much, buy new appliances, furniture, clothes, etc. Therefore, if you care about your grandparents, teach them how to use Facebook and reconnect with their friends to have a more pleasant pastime, or show them how a smart oven, fridge, and similar appliance work. 

Did you know that you can see the expiration date of your groceries when using a smart fridge? And that you can save money on foods because you can create more specific grocery lists or plan daily cooking activities accordingly? Smart ovens are also a blessing; they can help you improve your cooking experience by providing easy control over cooking features and operations via internet connectivity. You can use a smartphone app to manage and monitor your smart oven.

Did you know you can harvest energy and improve your mental activity?

AI non-invasive sensor aid improves cognitive functions and memory and thought processes. Elon Musk's Neuralink interface might aid those suffering from traumatic brain injuries. It also allows you to compose Facebook status updates using your mind instead of the physical keyboard.

There's a drawback to tech gadgets, though: products need regular charging. However, energy harvesting is being studied, as it can potentially extend battery life by turning your movement, body heat, or solar energy into electricity. Piezoelectricity is a type of energy harvesting in which piezoelectric ceramic is utilised to transform body vibrations created during movement into energy.

 

Home automation has had a tumultuous past as trends came and went. However, some technological advances are here to stay, so you might want to acknowledge them to not be taken aback when more and more of your friends make their homes smart.