Guest post by Lucy Wyndham
Smart home technology has taken America by storm – there are now over 5 million systems installed in houses across the country. Thanks to technology like Alexa and Google Home, we can now control a wide variety of home aspects, from the music that we listen to, to what temperature the thermostat is set at. Where is this tech headed in the future though? And is it truly helping us, or an invasion of privacy?
Smart toilets
Smart toilets are already in existence, if you are thinking of making improvements to your home, they can be picked up for a cool $1300 (Amazon). These machines will automatically deodorize the vicinity of the toilet. They have high tech flushing systems, meant to preserve water, and come with not only heated seats, but also foot warmers. These smart toilets can even be equipped with MP3 playback, operated by touchscreen (because everyone needs to listen to Debussy while they use the bathroom). The new school of smart toilets, being developed in Japan, go one step further. They analyze your urine, checking for medical conditions such as diabetes, and are even able to tell if a woman is pregnant. They are also being developed to be able to analyze stools to check for colon cancer. Who would have thought that a toilet could have the possibility of saving lives?
Robot cleaning
iRobot and Roomba vacuum cleaners have been around for over a decade, providing us not just with lovely floors, but comedy videos of our pets. However, this is just the start of this kind of technology. German scientists have unveiled a prototype robot that goes one step further. It has one arm and three fingers that are programmed to tidy up and operate various household machines. The robot, called Carl, specializes in bartending, and apparently Carl makes a mean margarita. One day in the future, perhaps we will all have a Carl to pick up the kid’s Lego, and mix us a drink after a long day at work.
Smart power tracking
We are becoming more conscious of energy use, and the development of smart appliances is helping us to understand how we are consuming electricity. Smart power tracking is being developed to take this one step further. Powerhouse Dynamics in Maine has set up a complete home tracking system, where you can monitor the energy efficiency of your home and gadgets in real time. It will make suggestions when it feels you need to upgrade to a more energy efficient product. In the future, this kind of smart home technology is expected to become standard.
The way that we interact with our homes is definitely changing with the development of technology and AI. It is now up to us how much we are going to let tech into our lives.