The Future of Your Smart Home

Some science fictional scenarios might still be a little bit beyond reach, but greater automation in certain areas might be closer than you think.

11:13 28 October 2020

Whether you're already a devotee of smart devices throughout your smart home or you're just starting to consider the benefits of a refrigerator that tells you when you're nearly out of milk, you might be wondering what innovations you can expect in the future. Will you be able tell your house to draw you a bath and fix you a drink while you're still on your way home from work? Will you really have a robot butler one day?

 

Smart Banking

 

Technology has already revolutionized how we do banking over the past few decades. For example, these days, finding a personal loan that's right for you is easier than ever before. If you are looking to finance a big move or pay off a credit card statement, you can research your options online, fill out streamlined applications and get an answer quickly. However, the internet of things is poised to make banking and payments even simpler. For example, instead of just telling you you're out of milk, your refrigerator could place a grocery order and pay for you. Wearables could help keep you within your budget, alerting you if you're about to go over in a certain area. Fast approvals for accounts and loans could become instantaneous if your financial information is being tracked.

 

Health Care

 

Imagine waking up to find that a drone has delivered a package of cold medicine to your front door after sensors detected that you were becoming ill overnight. Devices could also check to ensure that you took needed prescriptions and could monitor your breathing and your heart rate. At least one company has even worked on a toilet that can take automatic urine samples. Both health and financial smart devices raise potential privacy concerns, so these might not be appealing to everyone, but security is likely to improve along with technology in the years ahead.

 

Robots and Other Automated Devices

 

You might not get a full-sized, human-looking robot that works for you in the next decade, but companies are increasingly developing technology that can do many household tasks. If you live in a small space, you might appreciate furniture that can move around as you need it, hiding your bed or bringing out a dining room table when guests arrive. If it's a kitchen helper you're looking for, companies are also developing devices that can do basic food prep. This may be particularly helpful for people who have certain disabilities.

 

Other devices could roam about the house, checking for everything from dangerous emissions to the health and safety of your pet. You might already have a vacuum cleaner that moves about on its own, and cleaning devices are likely to become more sophisticated in the years ahead. Artificial intelligence could even mean that as these devices learn more about you and your habits, they are able to provide some of their services without needing to be activated. This could extend to choosing the type of lighting or music you prefer at certain times of the day.