LATEST TECH TRENDS FOR YOUR HOME

BY ANNIE SISK

The right technological enhancements to your home can increase its value and enhance your enjoyment of it in myriad ways. They can keep you and your family safe and even help you reduce your utility bills.

Yet it can be a challenge to keep up with the latest tech trends. Technology is constantly evolving in leaps and bounds to the next thing, while you just want your smart home to be … well, smart about it all. You want it to make life easier. You want it to just work.

So what are the latest trends in smart home technology that you need to know? We’ve got you covered.

Enhanced Privacy Protections

Nothing is more important to you than the safety and security of your property, your family, and your guests. Fortunately, tech companies agree with that assessment. That’s why many of their most interesting new developments are targeted towards the privacy and safety of your home and property.

For example, the next evolution in doorbell cameras may well be your own personal home drone camera. Go beyond monitoring for porch pirates with something like the Ring Always Home Cam. It can keep an eye on every window and every room on a single floor and while it’s available only by invitation so far, it may be headed for wider availability, depending on early feedback from users. From its dock inside your home, it conducts security rounds throughout your home and can be dispatched for controlled flights whenever you wish — and whenever your Ring Alarm is activated.

Creative Use Of Robot Technology

If you’ve been nursing Jetsons-inspired daydreams since childhood, this one’s for you: the Astro Robot. Your own personal digital assistant can follow you throughout your home, simply awaiting your next request. It can add to your home’s security by keeping track of those who enter your home and making sure they’re “on the list.”

With the addition of a serving tray, Astro transforms into a cute, tiny butler. You can also add a blood pressure monitor, a storage container, and even an accessory that will toss timely treats to your pet. Like the Ring Always Cam, you can purchase it only by invitation so far, and with limited quantities available, you may be in for a wait.

Deeper Integration

With recent headlines trumpeting (or blaring the alarm over) the exploding capabilities of AI, or artificial intelligence, it’s easy to forget sometimes that AI has actually been around for fifty or so years. Admittedly, it hasn’t been capable of more impressive feats until recently, but this is one tech area that’s almost certainly destined to expand dramatically in the coming years.

AI is what helps power more intuitive and more deeply integrated smart-home technology. Combined with the connectivity provided by the Internet of Things, AI can provide a broader and more useful array of services to help reduce lifestyle friction and free up both your time and your energy for more worthwhile things.

Imagine a home assistant that can monitor your food preferences, spot an upcoming shortage, and place an order for you completely without your participation. As AI technology improves, it also becomes more adept at interpreting voice commands and physical inputs, empowering it to create smart task and shopping lists, schedule your interior and exterior lights, and monitor and adjust your home’s thermostat and other environmental controls.

Finding ways for your smart-home elements to work together will continue to be a significant focus for tech companies. For example, one of the biggest stories in 2022 was the introduction of a unifying “translator,” called Matter 1.0, a standard SDK, or software development kit, which enables different smart-home devices to “talk” to each other and integrate more fully, even when they’re built by different companies. Your Amazonbuilt home assistant can then understand signals and messages from your GE lighting and the Yale smart locks on your front door. Integration means your home devices work together to make a better environment for you and your family.