The Future of Home Automation

The increasing influence of AI

Most people are familiar with AI smart speakers and the voice assistants on their phones, but with AI advancements and more and more IoT devices becoming available, the possibilities for how to apply this tech are seemingly endless. AI and IoT can transform your home in ways many have never imagined, and the convenience and efficiency are unmatched. Here’s a closer look at what you can expect in the months and years to come.

Today, artificial intelligence (AI) is more focused on basic voice commands and predictable automated routines. For example, you can ask your smart speaker to play a specific song for you or have your outdoor lights turn on every evening at 9 p.m. However, as technology advances, these AI-driven systems will become increasingly evolved, predict what you want them to do, and take on more and more tasks.

In the coming months and years, AI will not only understand your commands and respond appropriately but also learn about you and your preferences, ultimately making informed decisions and anticipating your needs. For example, some smart home automation technologies can adjust smart thermostats and lighting automatically when you leave the house and readjust to ensure your space is just how you like it when you get home, without you having to tell it to.

Smart homes will soon be able to learn your habits and either suggest actions or automatically implement them, like prompting you about preheating the oven so you can put dinner in as soon as you walk in the door. AI will also provide personalization and customization for each member of the household and adjust smart lighting, music, and temperature to each individual’s preferences without having to be asked to do so.

The advances in technology and the human ingenuity to harness them have endless possibilities. Much more is to come, including intelligent robotic assistants already in the works that can clear the dinner table, unload the dryer, and fold laundry. Central hubs for Internet of Things devices

As technology progresses and people invest in more connected devices for their IoT smart home ecosystem, interoperability will become even more crucial. Interoperability ensures each device, platform, or operating system is able to send and receive data to every other device in the same home.

As the number of smart home devices grows, it will become increasingly necessary for them to communicate and work together, regardless of brand name or operating system. Home automation is moving toward a single, streamlined user interface that can be accessed anywhere with devices that are all sharing data and learning from one another.

When these ecosystems work as intended, your smart appliances can adjust energy use by integrating with smart solar panels to reduce power consumption when you’re not home, and your car can communicate with your garage door so it opens automatically when you’re pulling into the driveway. Eventually, control for these AI-driven systems will include holographic displays and brain-computer interfaces, eliminating the need for a physical control hub altogether.

Thanks to predictive maintenance, AI will also be able to anticipate some problems before they begin, alerting you to maintenance needs and prompting you to schedule repairs when necessary. These functions minimize downtime and can save you from more expensive repairs in the future.

Enhanced home security

Home security systems will continue to become more and more sophisticated, adopting technologies that are currently used in government agencies, airports, and law enforcement.

House keys and even number pads will become obsolete as locks shift toward biometric access controls and smart sensors. Facial recognition software will monitor who comes and goes, and your home security system will be able to recognize household members, frequent visitors, and potential intruders, responding accordingly.

AI monitoring can learn patterns of normal behavior and trigger alarms or lock doors and windows in response to perceived threats, including environmental threats like fire or gas leaks. Your smart home security system can alert you when anything is out of the ordinary and allow you to notify the authorities at the touch of a button, whether you’re in your bedroom, at work, or on vacation.

Integrated health monitoring

Health monitoring will also become a part of home automation. For example, you might install air quality monitors that will automatically adjust ventilation or turn on air purifiers when they detect contaminants. This type of tech can be a potential game-changer for people with chronic conditions like asthma or allergies.

Your bedroom will automatically create an optimal sleep environment by adjusting the temperature and firmness of your mattress, turning on the lights, setting the thermostat, and playing white noise if needed. Smart blinds can block the early morning light and slowly let the sun in to wake you up at the perfect time.

In the future, smart furniture will also be able to monitor your posture and nudge you when you’ve been sitting in one place too long. There will even be AI-enabled mirrors that can help assess skin changes, detecting early signs of potential health issues.

Intelligent home automation will also start to include data from wearable devices. Your smartwatch can share your health metrics with your home to adjust your environment automatically, changing the temperature in the room when you’re working out or dimming the lights and playing soothing music when you’re stressed.

AI automation can also be transformative in a home gym, offering tailored workout plans, adjusting resistance, and adapting exercises in real time. Add in virtual reality, and your workouts can be even more engaging. With a VR headset, you can ride a stationary bike or run on a treadmill anywhere you choose without leaving your home.

What’s next?

As technology advances and becomes more common, experts predict that equipped smart homes will connect to broader communities. These advances are already happening in some cities, and are expected to spread quickly.

A primary benefit of a smart community is energy management. Being able to monitor and optimize energy usage based on residents’ behavior can significantly impact sustainability. Communication across a broader power grid can help coordinate usage and maximize energy efficiency across whole towns and cities.

These broader smart connections can benefit communities in other ways, too. Connecting automated homes to a community network may have huge implications for neighborhood watch programs, delivery services, and even street lights and traffic signals for improving traffic flow.

In some ways, the future is now, but there is still much more to come in the smart home revolution.