Smart homes. Yes, SMART. HOMES.

Smart Homes.

Yes, that’s right people. It’s happening: that alternate universe from Disney’s Wall-E is finally here.

To some extent.

Smart homes are set to change the way we live, with “more than 500 connected devices in a home by 2022”, according to technology research firm Gartner. As a member of a generation almost literally controlled by all things WiFi and networking, it is astonishing to see this being a viable future for the typical home. “You’re driving home from work. Your connected car pings your estimated time of arrival to your smart home, which springs into life.” This is the BBC‘s comforting hypothesis, and  it really would be extraordinary to have this kind of control over where we live, whether it be simply by turning on the oven before walking into the kitchen, or having your microwave set its time from upstairs.

Holger Knoepke, Vice President of  the connected home for the German telecommunication giant Deutsche Telekom, said “We realized that the smart home will be a mass market – 50% to 80% of people say they’re interested in smart home services. They could end up paying €5 to €10 a month, which equates to more than €15bn (£11bn; $17bn) a year in Western Europe by 2019.” It is definitely safe to say, then, that there would be a huge market for this; the percentage of people interested speaks for itself. It has been revealed that nearly 40 partners have signed up so far to the program, including Samsung, Bosch and Phillips.

Knoepke’s firm is developing an open platform similar to Samsung’s SmartThings, which will eventually act as a way for all the devices in the home to be connected through one source, from motion sensitive lighting to smart energy readers, generally making your home more economic. Which also explains Samsung’s involvement, as they have already adapted similar software.

However. There is then the question raised of…do we REALLY need this?

With advances in technology coming every year or so now, as opposed to every five, it’s scary to think what our lives could be like in 10-20 years time. Will it end with actual AI being integrated into society, with our homes having voices and essentially running themselves – like our very own J.A.R.V.I.S., or indeed like something from Wall-E, where all we have to do is speak and shovel food into our faces?

However…perhaps it would be wrong to view this in a singularly negative light. For example, imagine how useful stuff like this would be for the elderly, or the disabled. Being able to just speak a few commands and have your automated wardrobe have your outfit ready for you, or have your food made for you. It would revolutionize the nature of how we care for our less able members of society, and that in itself is reason enough to  put as much research and accessibility into the program as possible.

But (yes, another contradiction!) there are also the people who would buy applications for a smart home just for the sake of it. A balance would need to be found in deciding which apps make sense and which are ridiculous. An app for heating, for example, would be perfect (and is actually available for some homes already); an app for opening your garage door when it senses your car’s signal within 20 meters, so that by the time it’s on the driveway, it’s open: this would also be good. An app for adjusting your seat or changing the TV channel would be a stretch too far. There is a point where it becomes less about having a helpful hand from technology, and just becoming lazy.

I don’t know.

Maybe I’m just not very smart. 

HA.