Home Automation: It’s Already Here
The year is 2062 and the domestic world is awash with flat-TV screens, videophones that you talk to, wristwatches that talk to you, earrings that play music, robotic butlers equipped with robotic vacuum cleaners, and flying cars. All at the touch of a button and yet people have the nerve to complain about how stressful all that is for their fingertips. Remember the Jetsons?
We are still about 50 years away from that hypothetical scenario but most of those inventions are already common household items. Others, such as flying cars (http://www.terrafugia.com/) and domestic robots (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=personal-robot-research) will soon be. Well, perhaps that’s too optimistic. Realistically speaking, I don’t think we’ll see flying cars for a while, but I’m confident they’ll be around in less than half a century.
In today’s world the explosion of high-speed Internet and app-centric smartphones have made possible (and affordable) the implementation of home automation systems that can remotely control light modules, alarms, security cameras, thermostats, door sensors and other appliances that wirelessly connect to the home’s high-speed Internet,making them addressable from any personal computing device.
The popularity of home automation systems have been increasing greatly in recent years as prices drop and the systems become more user-friendly. Thanks to smartphone and tablet connectivity the “Internet of Things” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_of_Things) is finally coming alive at home allowing us to remotely control numerous domestic activities, which apart from convenience, brings in energy efficiency and safety.
Another beneficial side effect is that since statistical information can now be gathered about the usage of every connected household appliance the concept of ‘Big Data’ takes a whole new meaning (http://mashable.com/2013/02/27/home-automation-ux-design/) that will provide UX professionals with a greater insight into how products are used in real life and will provide opportunities to create a more personalized user experience.
Google has made clear that wants to be at the forefront of this home automation revolution. At its 2011 Google I/O developer conference, the company declared that “We wanna go one step further and really broaden the concept of what exactly is an Android accessory. We’d like to think of your entire home as an accessory — or better yet, as a network of accessories — and think of Android as the operating system for your home. We call this vision Android@Home.” However, for some unexplained reason Android@Home did not evolve past that announcement.
The problem seemed to be a lack of standards, since there isn’t enough regulation to keep the quality of the systems to specific standards. Virtually every home automation brand has its own protocol and specification, and no company wants to invest heavily developing a product before all the red tape is cleared up.
Google however is finding another way of tapping into the home automation market, this time through Google Glass, whose engineers at Mountain View think it can also be used to do such mundane things as controlling your refrigerator, TV, garage door, alarm and lighting systems, office appliances, and even espresso makers (http://www.grepscience.com/archives/12859).
Google is also planning a home automation role for its Google Glass head-mounted display (HMD) computer, that according to the patent application, will be able to control a compatible appliance in proximity using a “virtual control interface” powered by a variety of technologies such as the HMD’s camera, RFID, IR, QR codes, GPS, acoustic or optical signals, WiFi, Bluetooth, ZigBee, cellular, or NFC. The application I/O includes gestures, head motions and voice controls.
The Jetsons would have certainly liked that. No more fingertip stress.