Gizmos & Gadgets: Smart Home Tech

December 11, 2017 – Guest contributor, Emily Birling, shares with us the latest smart home technology designed for comfort, convenience, security, and energy efficiency. In almost every case these are devices controllable through apps, or by artificial intelligence assistants such as Siri or Alexa. Emily is a British writer and editor based in London. She has a passion for technology and an abiding interest in how it is changing our world. And that’s why she has created an infographic that demonstrates the rapid pace of change to technologies in our homes. Enjoy the read and please comment.

The smart home of the future is quickly turning into the present and here are a few devices making this evolution possible.

Xiaomi Mi Vacuum

The Xiaomi Mi Vacuum is a step above your Roomba 980, though it is not as well known! It uses a laser ranging sensor and gyro direction data to create a real-time map and navigate through a house. Popular in China the Xiaomi Mi produces air pressure equivalent to 1,800 Pascals or 37 pounds per square foot creating a suction force capable of doing what vacuums do best. Its main hover brush maintains a tight seal with the floor even on uneven surfaces or in moving from tile or wood to carpet.

Nanoleaf Aurora

Nanoleaf Light Panels are a beautiful smart lighting product designed to automate indoor lighting throughout the day. These triangular panels can mimic a sunrise, help improve your mood with stunning colours and automate your home lighting experience. The product has a Rhythm add-on module that transforms sound into colour creating a new sensory journey.

How do the triangular panels work? They can be mounted on a wall easily using mounting tape and can be pieced together into any desired shape. Using the smartphone app and your voice via Siri, Amazon Alexa, and Google Assistant, you customize the lighting effects, creating scenes, setting schedules, and even sharing what you have created with a user community.

Ring Video Doorbell

Ring is the developer of a line of video doorbells that let homeowners monitor their property with a Video Doorbell at the front door and Stick Up Cams around the house, creating a ring of security. Its inventor, Jamie Siminoff, credits his wife in helping him come up with the idea.

The built-in sensors send alerts to your smartphone or other mobile devices. also allows two way audio with built-in speakers and microphone. You can also add services that allow you to save and review the video feed and store the images in the cloud. The Ring doorbell comes with motion detection and automatic alerts sent to your smartphone. The camera is high definition, provides a wide-angle 180° view with a range depth of 9 meters (30 feet), and includes infrared LEDs for night vision.

Philips Hue Lighting

Philips, the Dutch electronics company, is attempting to reinvent home lighting with Philips Hue, an ambiance wireless controlled lighting system that comes in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and models including bulbs, light strips, lamps, and controls. With 16 million hues and colours available, users choose the lighting to match their moods by playing with the colours, synching lights to favourite music, and choosing from hundreds of apps to create totally immersive effects to go along with what you are watching on television, or playing on a video game console. 

You can program the lights to wake you up and even control them from anywhere you are as long as you have access to the Internet. When you aren’t at home you can schedule the lights to turn on and off and do this from anywhere you are on the planet through the smartphone and online interface.