Home automation
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magine walking into a door that automatically opens through a face-lock identification system. You walk in and get Alexa to play your favorite music or turn on the TV and put on your favorite channel. Further, you can also give commands to open your curtains or windows to let the fresh air come in. The above is no longer a fictionalized account but a reality for many. Home automation has made a lot many things possible which previously seemed like a fantasy. Interior designers no longer only need to focus on basic colors, patterns, materials and layouts but also on how can they make it technology friendly for people to automate their homes the way they like. “Over the years people have begun to automate many more systems” says Gopal Chandanani, Director, Cable Master Electronics LLC. “Before it was mainly lights and AC. Curtains were not very popular but have now become, along with security systems, main door intercom, audio, video, smart sockets, smoke detectors and so on.” In-fact, in 2018, Amazon acquired Ring, a manufacturer of video doorbells in a deal valued at more than $1 billion. As Amazon already had Alexa, its virtual assistant, the brand\s control in the smart home sector increased after this acquisition signalling that the brand was now looking at entering new markets because of the growing popularity. But in UAE, are we witnessing a steep, sudden growth too? “Home automation has been in the market for over a decade and in the UAE, it has been growing slowly and steadily,” says Luqman Hussain, Technical Manager, Expertech UAE. Gopal sec-onds Luqman saying: “It’s not that home automation did not exist before. It did, just that in Du-bai people have become more aware now and we are witnessing a rise.” While Gopal notes that due to globalisation and thanks to the internet, a lot of customers know exactly what they want, Luqman’s main concern is that often people mistake home automation for remote automation. “The majority of homeowners believe that if they’re living in a house where they have the ability
SmartSMB / March 2020
The upswing in Home Automation By Diksha Vohra
Home automation in increasingly becoming popular in the UAE. But are the advantages of an internet operated home outweighing the disadvantages? SmartSMB discusses with experts.
to control their home gadgets remotely via multiple dedicated An-droid and iOS apps, means they are living in a smart home. That’s not true. What is being described here is a remote home, not a smart home.” To operate a smart home, you need to be physically there to give commands. However, remote home, an extension of smart homes, is where you can manage the activities of your house without physically being present in or around the house. The challenge is, accordingly to Luqman, communicating this basic difference to clients. Another important challenge being faced by the home automation experts is that of price sensitivity. According to Gopal, depending on the extent of your home automation, you can be charged anything between AED 50,000 to 500,000 for one project, which is a hefty amount. If, however, customers are made more aware of the different home automation options, because not everyone may necessarily want everything to be automated, the costs associated with each and
Gopal Chandanani
Director, Cable Master Electronics
