Internet of Things - The way ahead
Convenience at your fingertips
Smart homes are rapidly becoming an entirely different segment in the real estate market, catering to emerging clients and customers.
Home automation market
The real estate boom and the 'Internet of Things' have coalesced to open up many more 'windows' for buyers, comprehensive automated home solutions being one of them. Consumers, not manufacturers, will eventually dictate how several home products should work together. Builders and product manufacturers will eventually bow to the needs of consumers.
Observers say the home automation market in India is growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30 percent with applications such as security, lighting and energy management key to sustaining its growth.
Ways to make your home smart
In addition to home security, automated homes actually tend to be more energy-efficient. Therefore, there's reason to modernize your home and make more effective use of your hard-earned money. Here's how:
Automate Security
For improving home security, apart from CCTV (and the old faithful security guard at the lobby), get a video door phone or finger print or biometric locks.
Install Sensors
Waking up to an alarm clock in the mornings needn't be such an ordeal anymore. A smart lighting system can set lights to brighten gradually to wake you up naturally. Again, you can configure your lighting to turn on and off at set times or control from a mobile device. Then, imagine a geyser that goes off after 'sensing' that the bathroom is no longer occupied. Smart
Enhance Home Ambience
Picture late evenings in front of the TV with family, after a tiring day. Smart TVs with voice-interaction capabilities will lead to the death of the humble battery-operated remote and make channel surfing easier.
Other scenarios include actually accessing your home's air-conditioning from a mobile device and setting it even if you're several miles away. Or getting your device to do mundane tasks like drawing your curtains by clicking a button, opening the front gate and syncing the home entertainment equipment before you actually step into your home.
A smart home could also mean goodbye to kitchen chores! You can control ovens, freezers and refrigerators with just a click.
Paradise lost
In time, almost everything can be interconnected to everybody. Life couldn't be better or simpler or more ''with it''. Seems like a Utopian scenario, doesn't it?
But remember, all those gadgets in your home are the result of your hard work. It's money invested in technology. So, you're not being the 'party-pooper' when you imagine your home could be broken into and devices could be stolen. To safeguard your finances from such hassles, insure your home and its contents. Be smart in a smart home!