Supercomputers, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality - the tech industry has long been a breeding ground for innovations. As many have gotten used to confine themselves to their homes during the pandemic, consumers are looking for products for their homes that don’t just look aesthetically pleasing but are also geared towards increased functionalities that help maintain a comfortable and healthy living space.
The year of 2021 - albeit merely in its first quarter - has seen breakneck technological adoption in housewares, with many innovative companies tapping into this growing trend of consumers turning to intelligent home products. Technologies that previously only existed in the realm of automobiles and computer hardware are getting put into things like power sockets, water dispensers, and even saunas, giving them functionalities that their traditional counterparts simply come without.
A faucet that does more than one job
Having caught the spotlight at KBIS 2021, U by Moen Smart Faucets spice up daily interactions in the kitchen by offering four different ways of operation: conventional handle control, voice command, sensors, and through the company’s mobile application.
From turning on and off the faucet to telling the temperature of the water that it is dispersing, its voice-controlled technology offers limitless possibilities, and with a touchless sensor, users can choose to wave their hands over the sensor instead to either turn on the water or shut it off. These features help reduce the passing of germs and dirt since interactions with the faucet are essentially hands-free.
One of its voice commands “wash hand” activates a hand-washing algorithm that helps save water while making sure that users can get their hands cleaned based on the CDC’s suggested time for handwashing.
With this smart home water security system, say goodbye to costly water damage and leaks
Moen has another revolutionary product on their hands for those wanting to keep a tight rein on their household water usage. Flo by Moen is a home water security system that features a set of devices that you can fit into your home’s water supply system to avoid staggering bills from water damage and leaks.
These devices are capable of detecting your water supply system for vulnerabilities and leaks while also sensing any leak and moisture outside of the connected pipes, including failures of appliances, overflowing drains, and other weather-related problems. You can control, monitor, and save water in your home at your fingertips using their mobile app.
Forget about having blinds or curtains on your windows, these smart glass windows are here to stay
Smart glass windows aren’t the new kid on the block, but they have only started gaining more prominence in recent years due to better innovations in the underlying raw materials and technologies. Smart glass also bears a variety of monikers, including light control glass (LCG), privacy glass, and switchable glass.
The technology behind smart glass allows it to control various light forms such as UV, IR, and visible light. Essentially, smart glass technologies are able to manage the amount of light being transmitted through the glass windows, by making them appear either transparent, opaque, or translucent. There are two types of smart glass windows on the market - passive glass or active glass. Passive smart glass windows require electrical charges to operate; whereas, active ones do not and can further be classified as either thermochromic glass windows or photochromic glass windows.
These technologies have been generating a tidal wave of window replacement jobs, and with growing investments in the research and development of a more cost-effective and efficient product, there hasn’t been any sign of slowing down in the smart glass industry on a global scale.
If you are still clinging onto your old electronics but wanting to have a taste of smart home technologies, smart plugs let you control your electrical devices straight from your smartphone
Making your home high-tech doesn’t necessarily involve you forking out a large sum of cash. Smart plugs are a cost-friendly way to modernize your typical appliances, lighting, and other electrical devices.
Smart outlets, smart plugs, or smart switches? They are all the same. These smart switches - or smart plugs - plug into wall outlets or power strips, and they have their own power outlets that you can plug any devices into to automate them. You are not going to lose an existing outlet by plugging one smart switch in as you are basically just making the outlet rather intelligent by getting it connected to the internet through Wi-Fi.
Most smart plugs allow you to control the power wirelessly on your smartphone through the app. When you connect an appliance - let say your TV - to a smart plug, you can switch it on or off at any time and anywhere you want. They also come with a function that lets you set up a power schedule. If you want an electrical device to turn on or off at a particular time of the day, you can do that with the smart plug’s schedule feature.
A bright future for the smart home technology market
The pandemic has propelled the smart home technology industry to new heights. The market was already expanding when the outbreak started, and ABI Research expects the demand for smart home products to grow even more than previously predicted. Its recent study indicates that the market will bring in $317 billion by 2026, which is an additional five percent growth over the forecasts from the pre-pandemic era.
We will likely see more and more innovative household products get introduced to the market, but there is certainly no telling how contemporary technologies behind smart home devices will evolve in the future.