Tips From The Top

What are the hottest trends in smart home technology?

Home health, robots, and fully integrated smart homes – according to insights from the annual international meeting of technology experts and innovators.

This year’s CEDIA Consumer Electronics Show featured more than 300 sessions on technology topics and trends. More than anything, says writer Ian Bryant, CES 2020 revealed that the next five years will see dramatic advancements in health and wellness.

Tech for home health and aging in place was a huge topic among both established smart tech companies and start-ups. Wearable tech that can track a person’s movements at home and take vitals proved to be a key development. “CarePredict,” a device worn like a watch, will take the data and translate it to a dashboard for family members or caretakers to interpret. For instance, a son can see that his elderly mother is much less active, not eating as much, and not using the bathroom. The watch also has a help button and a communication system. (Gone are the days of “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!”)

At the other end of the life continuum, a baby’s heart and breathing can be monitored with video analytics. Parents and caretakers can receive notifications of any abnormal activity.

It’s also evident that fully integrated smart homes are gaining a foothold as more consumers are fed up with too many apps and DIY systems. A true smart home like the platforms we install at Jackson Hole A/V features complete seamless integration of all household systems – climate, lighting, security, audio/video – which the home owner monitor and controls via one unified, intuitive app. Smart home tech is meant to make people’s lives easier and more enjoyable, not more complicated. And our platforms – Savant, Control4 – make sure the customer’s home life is enhanced by the technology their home utilizes. 

In our homes, the use of robots is advancing to include tasks like assisting in the kitchen. First designed to help people with disabilities, these domestic robots could eventually be adapted to assist everyone.

And overall, smart home tech is moving towards a more simplistic design. As Bryant points out, “From bespoke cat litter systems to digital readouts embedded in beautiful wood panels, tech is being designed to nearly disappear.” This year’s CES showed that the coming age of smart home tech will focus on an aesthetic of streamlined, minimal, and hidden hardware that blends into our environment and our everyday lives. 

To learn more about how you can take advantage of the new trends in home automation, call us at Jackson Hole AV. We’d love to discuss the possibilities.