There was a time not so far back when people were talking about Home Automation as being the centerpiece of some exotic homes, such as those belonging to the likes of Bill Gates. But times are changing, because these days practically any home can be automated, whether new or existing, the technology has evolved to make it possible for even value priced homes to consider home automation options. It is not just that the economics have made it feasible, but changes in how we live and work, sometimes are making such automation a necessity for reasons related to basic safety and security.
A dual-income family, where both the husband and wife work or have to spend time out of the home is an increasingly common facet today. Often people, who might be alone at home, tend to be usually either children or elders. Families are also increasingly taking extended vacations away from home or sometimes weekend trips where no one is at home. So, safety of the home or its occupants is one of the major drivers in the mainstreaming of Home Automation
Additionally, in many of the high-rises, there is an increasing concern that unless Home Automation features like smoke or gas leak sensors detect the safety event early in a single home, it is likely that the rest of the building community will also bear the consequences of a spreading fire. So, home automation in each home is also linked to the safety of the building and is also resulting in the emergence of building automation systems that links together the safety and security aspects of multiple homes in the building together, to manage them efficiently through centralized monitoring. Overall, home automation mainstreaming is being driven by entire community in a building looking to feel safer.
The comfort features that Home Automation enables, are often viewed by some as a luxury but in many situations can also qualify as a necessity since some factors become a matter of convenience and safety, such as, in the case of elderly people who may not be able to get up to toggle the lights or to open or close curtains. Motion sensors can help automate lights in places like bathrooms where wet hands on switches also have safety consequences. These comfort features can also be viewed from an energy efficiency and convenience perspective, such as when we leave our homes but inadvertently leave something on. The ability of Home Automation to provide a single button to turn off multiple switches or devices across the home, or to look at their status when even away from home, extends into significant convenience and peace of mind for homeowners.
In recent years, theemergence and mainstream arrival of voice assistant technology is another factor, which is accelerating the mainstreaming of Home Automation. Just like smart phones, people might not purchase a Google Home or Amazon Echo, two of the dominant voice assistant products, simply for reasons pertaining to Home Automation as they have many uses, including entertainment. But once they do acquire it in their home, it adds to the capabilities in Home Automation and is likely to get used as another user interface to it beside the smart phone. This convenience that voice assistants add, ranges from using voice commands to change channels on a TV to using a single phrase like “leaving home” to shut off all items in the home too as you would want them while departing.
The Home automation industry is rapidly growing and now evolving more to a converged offering with integration of Lighting Controls, Safety Security Sensors, Voice Enabled Systems, Entertainment and many more. Advances in the areas of Apps are also changing the user interfaces and it is becoming much more user friendly and simple for users to manage, even on their handheld devices. The concept of smart homes is growing steadily in urban homes across India. We can expect all of these aspects to continue influencing consumers to seek more automation within their homes, and the use of these technologies to grow in the upcoming years.
Authored by Dr.Narendra Bhat, Founder & President, BuildTrack