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The Internet of Things and Your Smart Home
If you’re a smart home owner, you’ve likely heard the term “Internet of Things” or more recently the “Internet of Intelligent Things.”
What do these terms have to do with the way your home knows just what lighting scheme you like for dinner, what music you like to wake up to in the morning, and what time to lower the shades in the garden room?
Everything.
As a smart home owner, it’s good to have a basic understanding of the Internet of Things, how it involves every connected device in your home, and what’s on the horizon with the Internet of Intelligent Things.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is the connection of objects and devices via Internet that allows information to be sent and received between devices. So while you’re making pancakes, you smart phone can tell your smart fridge to pour a cup of water for the recipe. Or while you’re vacationing in Hawaii, your HVAC unit can tell your smart phone that your home’s interior temperature has just dropped five degrees, and from your patio chair on the beach, you can use your security cameras to monitor your home.
In the Internet of Things, there were an estimated 8.4 billion online capable devices in 2017 (up 31% from 2016); experts estimate that by 2020, the number will increase to 30 billion objects.1
The Internet of Things forms the basis of a well-oiled smart home. The number and variety of “things” – HVAC, appliances, lights, security – connecting and working together improve your smart home’s efficiency, accuracy, and your family’s quality of life.
The “Internet of Intelligent Things” is the interconnection of more advanced devices that can obtain and share information and increase the intelligence and capabilities of other devices. For example, as Roomba robots move through your home vacuuming up crumbs and cat hair, they can also collect data about your home’s layout. The Roomba can share this data with other devices in your home, increasing the intelligence of the other devices.2
And as more complex devices are developed and connected, the interfaces helping them communicate are also evolving.3
While some devices may be simple to connect and operate, others require a lot more knowledge and expertise, particularly if you are looking to integrate all the systems in your own into one seamless unit that you can manage easily and efficiently.
An integrator holds the key to making sure your devices are properly connected and working together in a way that makes your life easier, more efficient, and more enjoyable.
To learn more about how an integrator can help seamlessly connect the smart systems in your home, call us at Jackson Hole AV. We’d love to show you what your smart home can do.
1 Wikipedia, Internet of Things, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_of_things (accessed 27 Feb 2018)
2 Rob LeFebvre. “Roomba maker iRobot plans to sell digital maps of your home.” Engadget. July 24, 2017 https://www.engadget.com/2017/07/24/roomba-irobot-sell-digital-maps-home/ (accessed 27 Feb 2018)
3 Mary Ann Azevedo “How IoT and technology are shaping homes of the future.” Cisco: The Network. Jan 26, 2017. https://newsroom.cisco.com/feature-content?articleId=1815320 (accessed 27 Feb 2018)
