“When we look at Smart Home Technology in the next 10 – 15 years, technologies will become a cross-platform to provide complex decision making solutions while increasing device capabilities. Machine learning, increasingly, will take on responsibilities like predicting and automating important tasks that comprise our daily lives. Anything from avoiding traffic on the drive home to the perfect settings to warm your home the moment you arrive will become seamless background tasks of the connected world.

Blockchain is currently being tested for its ability to enhance device security, as consumer confidence for automation hinges on trusting the underlying security of said systems. As these smaller decisions become increasingly automated, and their value coupled with the reliability of machine learning is proven, expect increasingly larger, complex and important decisions to be relied upon over time.”

“A home is a place to live, your largest financial asset, and something that is bought and sold in a real estate process. Smart home technology in the future will see a convergence between hardware and software that not only controls the day to day usage of your home, but also enables homeowners to be smarter in all their financial decisions, in managing, maintaining and improving the home. Then, combining the daily controls of the house with the total cost of ownership of the home will impact the marketability and value of the home when it is being sold.”

“Despite some of the fantastic new products and services available today, the home of tomorrow will leverage a unique understanding across a variety of products and services to proactively enhance your lifestyle.

Homes will be far more efficient in energy / water / utility consumption as end point devices work together based on your habits vs. the cost of resource availability. Beyond appliances, homes will ask for maintenance checks for everything from air filters and pool equipment to clogged gutters and foundation anomalies.

Homes will also help occupants lead healthier lives via cleaner water and air as well as proactive analysis of waste via garbage, toilets and sewer. However, the most fun aspects revolve around highly immersive entertainment experiences that coordinate whole home environments into gaming, sporting events, and family movie nights.

Put simply, the home will have more opportunities for personalization since the invention of paint.”

“If trends continue the way they are headed, the rise in smart home technology will bring a rise in hacking. Once scammers get smart and realize the massive security vulnerabilities in so many gadgets, they will use them as an access point into sensitive information, other home tech, and as a means for crashing external servers (i.e. the DDoS attack that brought down CNN, Netflix, Reddit, and others last october). Getting your smart home hacked into will be as common as phishing was in the early days of the Internet.

Ideally, smart home security gadgets like Cujo, Dojo, and Bitdefender Box will no longer be optional. Instead, they will be as standard as an ad blocker or antivirus software, sending real-time notifications when suspicious activity is happening on the network. Smart home devices will be regulated by the federal government with specific security measures like two-factor authentication mandated. There’s no stopping IoT and smart home tech from expanding, but the key is to grow it in a safe, responsible way.”

“As you may have seen, smart homes just got smarter with news that Whirlpool’s new appliances will be compatible with Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant. It’s hard to imagine, but we’ll soon be asking our washing machine to do the laundry without lifting a finger.

There’s huge potential for other industries like traditional service companies (think cable, phone and utilities):

– With IoT, their products can detect and communicate the need for repairs, even schedule appointments before an appliance breaks. 

– ​From a company perspective, there’s also time/cost saving value here – by diagnosing a problem before it happens, machines allow service techs to arrive on-site with the right info and equipment to fix the issue (so no second visits, and no frustration for the customer).”

“I believe decentralized energy is at the forefront of smart home technology. With the massive increase in global power demand from interconnected devices in the near future, clean decentralized energy is the only viable option for sustainability. Traditional power grids will become overloaded. I believe to facilitate adoption to enable scaling with power demands, a tokenized financing model needs to be implemented to crowdfund smart home energy technologies to remove the cost barrier to entry. This would enable outside parties to finance smart home tech and receive revenue distribution for use in real time. Ethereum’s blockchain is the best solution I have seen for implementing this.”

“I see residential solar panels disappearing and the majority of roofing shingles composed of solar conductive material being installed. These new roofs will last much longer and be wired so that you won’t see cables and pipe hanging off the sides of your home. The roofs will be designed taking into consideration the optimum angles for solar gain. This could also be done with your driveway and hardscape so that you have a net zero energy consumption.

No more floods caused by leaking pipes or appliances! Sensors throughout your home will detect a water leak, and communicate to your main shut off valve or ancillary valves to shut off the water immediately while notifying you simultaneously. Should there be an actual leak, the damage would be minimal and insurance companies will offer discounts on premiums to have this service installed.”

“As the industry continues to evolve, the development of smart devices will progress in focus from applications within the home to devices outside of the home.

Smart devices like Roomba were built to clean the interior of the house, but now these devices have been adapted to clean and operate outside too; flash forward to Robomow, a smart Roomba-like device designed to automatically mow your lawn. This evolution has paved the way for smart devices that were built for outside of the home. One example is the smart security devices Ring, which enables users to see, hear and speak to anyone at your door from your smartphone, tablet or PC, shows the beginning of this trend. Another example is Edyn, a smart device that keeps you connected to your garden by giving you the tools to make your garden thrive — so you always know precisely what’s needed to keep your plants healthy or Mailhaven a smart mailbox to receive packages for home owners.

Furthermore, in the future, just as Nest became the leading hub to tie your smart devices together, there will be an outdoor device that performs the same function outside of the home.”

“Advertising will have a central place in the smart homes as brands have more opportunities and channels to reach their customers. Advertisers will acquire vast amounts of consumer data and use advanced machine learning algorithms in order to serve relevant, customized ads to users at appropriate times.

We could have smart fridges that will recommend a new wine similar to the one you liked last time, then order it for you. Smart TVs could stream ads at appropriate times between scenes or when you take a break, instead of interrupting the viewing experience. And when you ask your smart home speaker about a new movie or restaurant, targeted and localized audio ads could accompany the organic search results.

The important issue here is that the industry maintains high standards. Advertising in the smart home should be transparent, respectful to the user, and complement our daily routines.”