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The Smart Home, FrancesAldrich
The Smart Home, FrancesAldrich
A “smart home” can be defined as a residence equipped with computing and information technology
which anticipates and responds to the needs of the occupants, working to promote their comfort,
convenience, security and entertainment through the management of technology within the home and
connections to the world beyond. The full-blown concept of the smart home is the acme of domestic
technology we can envisage at present. The concept, at one time only encountered in science fiction,
has moved closer to realisation over the last ten years. Although the gap between reality and fantasy is
still wide, it is important that we start to give proper consideration to the implications this technology
holds for the way we will live in our homes in the future. To date, the limited amount of research into
smart home that has been carried out has been primarily focused on the technical possibilities. As a
social scientist myself, I am concerned that the personal and social consequences of smart home
technology are largely being overlooked. (A notable exception is the work of Mynatt and colleagues at
the Everyday Computing Lab at the Georgia Institute of Technology, e.g. Mynatt et al., 2001; Siio et al.,
2002; Voida and Mynatt, 2002.) The home is a quintessential “human” place, with all the intricacies that
entails. As I hope to persuade you in this chapter, the smart home is far too sensitive and important a
sphere for social scientists to ignore any longer. If we take up the challenge which the smart home
presents, we can make a significant contribution – the evolution of the technology itself will be shaped
by our discussion and research. With this chapter I am aiming to provide the motivation and the
background for social scientists to become involved with the emerging phenomenon of the smart home.
The chapter is divided into three sections looking at the past, the present and the future of the smart
home – at the historical context which brought about the emergence of the “smart home” concept; its
present status in terms of consumer take-up, current research projects and academic literature; and its
future prospects, both commercially and as a potential area for social science research. The field of
smart home research (and domestic technology in general) is in its infancy and relevant literature is
sparse. I have therefore drawn together information from a range of disciplines and speculated where
necessary, particularly regarding the future. Finally, I should declare my own position – the social science
of domestic technology is an area I find fascinating and I hope that I can communicate some of my
enthusiasm in this chapter. Domestic technology has been referred to aptly as the “Cinderella”
technology (Cockburn, 1997) – it simply does not get the creative urges of the male technology
designers going (though hopefully the smart home may change that). Homes are still maintained largely
by women’s unpaid work but women have long been disenfranchised from the development of the
domestic technology they use, playing little or no part in the design process which generally views them
as passive consumers. It would be an oversimplification to see the whole neglect of domestic technology
in male versus female terms but there is an element of truth in that view which, for me, adds to the
drama and interest of this field of study. In fact, of course, research into domestic technology provides a
greater opportunity to affect people’s lifestyle and quality of life than research into many other
technologies. In the developed world we are nearly all stakeholders in domestic technology and, to most
of us, the home is a very important place.
2.2 Past History of the Smart Home 2.2.1 20th Century Domestic Technology: Seedbed of the Smart
Home The 20th century saw a dramatic revolution in domestic technology, a revolution which
culminated at the close of the century with the emergence of the previously unimaginable concept of
the “smart home”. At the beginning of the 20th century most of the available domestic technology
would have been easily recognised and used by people from a hundred years earlier. By the end of the
20th century, however, domestic technology had changed beyond recognition. The first major impetus
for change was the introduction of electricity into homes in the first quarter of the century. This
provided a new source of clean, convenient power for appliances and spurred the introduction of novel
equipment for the home. The second major impetus was the introduction of information technology in
the last quarter of the century. This opened up possibilities for exchanging information between people,
appliances, systems and networks in and beyond the home, possibilities which are still being explored.
Integrarea este fundamentul tehnologiei casei inteligente. Este vorba despre ce dispozitiv
se poate conecta la ce, cum se conectează și ce se poate face pentru ca aceste conexiuni să
fie cele mai eficiente.
O mare parte din tehnologia modernă de consum se referă la integrare. De exemplu:
• Adăugarea de fișiere în cloud, astfel încât acestea să poată fi accesate oriunde
• Conectarea telefonului la un difuzor pentru a asculta muzică prin Bluetooth.
• Cumpărarea unui Mac, astfel încât să se sincronizeze cu iPad-ul și iPhone-ul
Chiar și acum 10 ani, ideea de a-ți controla luminile, termostatul și securitatea casei, toate
de pe smartphone-ul tău ar fi de neînțeles. Avanză rapid și astăzi intrăm în era tehnologiei
casei inteligente.
Adică, este începutul pentru a face casele noastre mai ușor de locuit.
Iar creșterea în următorii câțiva ani va fi astronomică. De fapt, Zion Market Research
susține că piața globală a tehnologiei pentru locuințe inteligente va atinge uimitoarea
valoare de 53,45 miliarde de dolari până în anul 2022.
Noile invenții vor fi mai promițătoare pentru industrie în ansamblu. Inteligența artificială
în produse precum Amazon Echo și Google Home este un bun exemplu.
Adoptarea tehnologiei devine din ce în ce mai puțin un obstacol. Oamenii s-au obișnuit
foarte mult cu dispozitivele integrate. Aproape 40 de milioane de americani folosesc în
prezent un difuzor inteligent în casele lor. Ele sunt practic o componentă centrală a
sufrageriei.
Cu alte cuvinte, fundația a fost pusă. Nu trebuie să fii un tehnocrat pentru a te bucura să
stingi cele trei lămpi din camera ta de zi cu un singur buton.
With that said, below you will find some of our top smart home technology products we predict for 2020 and beyond. Note that these aren’t new
inventions. They just aren’t commonplace in the home, either because they are still being beta-tested or they are too pricey for the typical consumer.
1. Smart Kitchens
Arguably your most important appliance in the kitchen, refrigerators can now do much more than just keep your food cool. Currently, smart refrigerators
are loaded with cool features, allowing you to:
Set meal schedules for your family members
Have your fridge read recipes to you while you cook.
Sync grocery lists to your phone
Peer “into” your refrigerator without opening it (with transparent touchscreens)
Alert you when your filter needs an update
Let you know when you have food that is expiring
Or, for something a little less complex, you could get started with something like the Cook Mellow Sous Vide Machine. According to the product
description, “Thanks to the built in Wi-Fi, you can control your cooking in real time using your smartphone from your kitchen or miles away from home.”
Probabil cel mai important aparat din bucătărie, frigiderele pot face acum mult mai mult
decât să vă păstreze alimentele reci. În prezent, frigiderele inteligente sunt încărcate cu
funcții interesante, permițându-vă să:
• Stabiliți un program de masă pentru membrii familiei dvs
• Puneți frigiderul să vă citească rețete în timp ce gătiți.
• Sincronizați listele de cumpărături cu telefonul dvs
• Priviți „în” frigiderul dvs. fără a-l deschide (cu ecrane tactile transparente)
• Vă avertizează când filtrul dvs. are nevoie de o actualizare
• Vă anunță când aveți alimente care expiră
Sau, pentru ceva un pic mai puțin complex, ați putea începe cu ceva de genul Cook
Mellow Sous Vide Machine. Conform descrierii produsului, „Datorită Wi-Fi-ului
încorporat, îți poți controla gătitul în timp real folosind smartphone-ul din bucătărie sau la
kilometri distanță de casă.”
2. Smart Bedrooms
Everyone benefits from a good night’s sleep. That’s why “smartening” up your bedroom won’t just make your life easier. It can help improve your health.
Sleep tracking apps allow you to monitor your sleep.
Eight Sleep’s Jupiter mattress monitors your sleep patterns, controls the temperatures of your bed and even knows when to wake you up (based on the
“deepness” of your sleep). Need a more gentle wakening? A smart aromatherapy alarm clock senses when you are lightest in your sleep cycle and emits a
specific scent to give you energy.
Toată lumea beneficiază de un somn bun. De aceea, „imbunatatirea” dormitorului tau nu
iti va face viata mai usoara. Vă poate ajuta să vă îmbunătățiți sănătatea. Aplicațiile de
urmărire a somnului vă permit să vă monitorizați somnul.
Salteaua Jupiter de la Eight Sleep vă monitorizează tiparele de somn, controlează
temperatura patului și chiar știe când să vă trezească (pe baza „profunzimii”somnului). Ai
nevoie de o trezire mai blândă? Un ceas cu alarmă inteligent pentru aromoterapie
detectează când ești cel mai ușor în ciclul tău de somn și emite un miros specific pentru
a-ți oferi energie.
3. Smart Bathrooms
We’re still a ways away from these features becoming mainstream, but someday spa-like experiences will be featured in most homes. No longer must you
start your own bath. Your digital assistant will take care of that for you.
Additionally, your smart bath will release relaxing brain waves and aromatherapy from controls on your smartphone. There are nose-geared gadgets in the
works that will help isolate your aromatherapy sessions specifically to you.
5. Smart Business
Smart technology for businesses, of course, wouldn’t technically be considered smart home technology (unless you work from home). But still, “smarter”
businesses benefits consumers. There is already a plethora of technology out there that benefits businesses and consumers.
Square is an excellent example. It has made things much easier for small businesses that are more mobile. Furthermore, it helps consumers by allowing
them to pay with credit cards at an establishment that typically would only accept cash.
Chatbots are another form of smart technology that makes businesses more efficient. And the artificial intelligence in these programs will become more
precise.