Smart home? Why you better don’t give up on your brains just yet
In 2007 Apple launched their first Iphone and introduced the smartphone concept to a worldwide audience. From then onwards, there is a tendency to call connected devices and systems ‘smart’. Home automation creates unlimited possibilities to connect devices in your home. Smart lighting, heating, ventilation,... are only a few examples. But does a smart home really exist?
Your home has no brains
You will have guessed the answer to that question by now. No, a smart home doesn’t actually exist. Your home isn’t going to solve that complicated math problem for you. You can’t expect it to do everything while you sit back and relax. Your home has no brains nor an engineering degree. It simply executes what you ask it to do.
If you ask the software to automatically turn off all the lights when closing the front door that will be the case. But if you configure the opposite - turn on the lights when leaving - your home will do that as well. No need to explain why the first scenario is a better option but your house won’t notice the difference.
Patrick Perkins
Human touch
It isn’t the software that makes your home smart. Nor will expensive devices help you to meet that end. Your home can only be as smart as the owner who lives in it. Human reasoning and interpretation is needed to create something smart and technology will never account for that.
The key to success is to thoroughly create a plan for your smart home. Call it a guidance so that your house knows exactly what to do at a certain moment.
Think out all the different scenarios that would make your daily life more comfortable. Define triggers (when closing the front door), instructions (two taps gets a brighter light) and security measures (so no intruder can change the settings). Never lose sight of your end goal: a home that automatically adjusts itself to your rhythm. A home that looks smart.
A home that looks smart
So, our word of advice is to keep your brains since your home won’t do the thinking for you. That said: it is possible to create the appearance of a smart home. By a one-time dedicated effort of doing all the settings. Maybe you’ll even need some help of a professional. But fortunately, a smart home is no utopia. It just takes some more effort than appears at first sight.
