What will smart homes look like with AI of the future?
Big Tech could be up to something great...if they can work together
Courtesy: PIRO4D
The dawn of AI in the smart home
Nearly a decade ago, Google Nest announced the Nest Learning Thermostat, a thermostat that could be controlled from your phone. It learned your heating routines over time, then anticipated your preferences and adjusted your home’s temperature automatically. Technology was able to adapt to individual environments and users. And, this was just the beginning of the new way we would interact with our homes.
From smart doorbells to alarm systems, we now expect standard home products to feature AI. But, we’ve hit a bump in the road.
The Future of AI
Courtesy: Google
Over time, AI technologies have been slowly added to more smart home products. From smart doorbells to alarm systems and cameras. Smart doorbells using AI have been popular recently, with companies such as Ring, Nest, and Arlo adding facial recognition to their doorbells, and letting users decide what to do when certain people arrive at their door. For instance, if you have a delivery and your doorbell recognizes the person’s uniform, they can send out an automated response that you set up in the app. Undoubtedly, there are many more useful ideas like this one that could be worked into smart devices!
The Future of AI
Courtesy: Patrick Campanale
There are endless future possibilities for AI in our smart homes. Take smart blinds. Right now, you can directly command Alexa to open or close your smart blinds. But soon, connected devices could learn when you open your blinds in the morning and close them in the evening. AI may import data from when you turn your phone on and off to make sure the blinds are open - or closed - before you need them to be. A seamless experience where technology blends into the background; that's the future.
But, here lies the problem…
The radio silence between different devices means the huge plans for AI expansion are still in their infancy. Currently, your Ring doorbell and security camera can only talk to your other Ring and Amazon devices. Google Nest thermostats, security cams and speakers can only talk to other Google devices. This is a hindrance when you have a variety of devices across your home. Companies are missing out on the wide range of possibilities this could bring!
Why haven’t we solved this problem?
Courtesy: Nguyen Hung Vu
Naturally, companies have their disputes, and Big Tech is no exception. Amazon and Google have had a feud for years. Google, Apple, and Amazon have their proprietary systems for smart home devices. Google Home, Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa and Ring - the options are mind-numbing. And, each company is fighting to keep users within their own ecosystem. Seamless connection between all of your home’s smart devices, shared AI, and open communication among Big Tech might take more time than we initially thought.
But, there is hope. In December 2019, Apple, Google, Amazon, IKEA, Philips Hue, the Zigbee Alliance and other tech leaders formed a working group “to develop and promote the adoption of a new, royalty-free connectivity standard to increase compatibility among smart home products.” The ZigBee Alliance plans to announce the standard sometime in 2021. The hope is that these standards will be successfully implemented not long after.
This could create a world where consumers can mix and match smart home brands. With successful collaboration between technology companies, smart home tech can more easily fade into the background.
Conclusion
The future of AI in smart homes is bright! But, it involves companies working together to create a central controller or app that all smart devices work through. If tech companies can come to an agreement on a standard for smart homes, it will be an exciting world of possibilities. You could come home to smart lights that communicate with your smart blinds, power strips, lamps, coffee makers, and more. Each device would teach the others something about your routine!
Imagine that you have a busy schedule at work the next day. You haven’t bothered changing your alarm, so you’ll have to rush in the morning. Now, imagine how AI could change that. AI could take a look at your schedule, notice you’ve got to get an early start, and adjust your alarm, coffee maker, shower, and blinds - all while you're still counting sheep! This is the future of AI in the smart home, and it’s truly something straight out of science fiction.