And we are back! After an exciting week in Las Vegas at CES, we are happy to share a couple of insights related to smart home tech that caught our eye. This year, we saw an unprecedented amount of products under the smart home umbrella geared to make our lives easier, safer, and more efficient. Whether it be voice-command technology or self-driving cars, we saw tech designed towards the goal of “smart living”—a connected and seamless integration of technology in our day-to-day lives. The reality of tomorrow’s smart home was ubiquitous and incredibly exciting. As a company dedicated to concept of an environmentally-friendly and efficient home, we see the potential these products have to improve the way we live our lives.
Aging in Place and Wearables
Wearables are no longer just for the health-conscious but are increasingly becoming critical tools used to monitor the safety and health of the elderly in their homes. Wearables have long since expanded from their original activity-tracking functions—they are now able to track a multitude of clinically relevant measures. The applications for this data is vast. Wearables can detect when a fall or accident has occurred and contact emergency services. They can also provide long-term data that can help doctors make more accurate diagnosis. These are just two of the many applications that these devices offer. We are excited about the potential of these products to increase people’s independence and confidence to age in their home. Interested in this type of tech? Contact us to learn more.
Telemedicine
Wearables are one piece of a larger movement called telemedicine that is transforming the medical field as we know it. This year, it was clear: telemedicine is here to stay and we are likely to see drastic changes in the way physicians and patients interact. For example, in rural areas where access to health providers is limited, patients often rely on video meetings to get care for non-urgent issues. In practise, appropriate use of technology cuts costs and increases efficiency. Insurance providers are increasingly incentivising physicians to implement tech that can improve health outcomes for their patients. More than likely that tech will be reaching home. The move towards making a home “smart” will be a critical part of the process. We as a company are optimistic of the prospects of tech improving the lives of those aging in place, managing chronic illnesses, and countless others who can benefit from this technology.
Self-Driving Cars meet the Smart Home
This year, Nissan, Chrysler, Ford, and others introduced us to a more flexible concept of the car. We saw self-driving cars that integrated tools such as voice-command, biometrics, face-recognition, and analytics designed to free your time while running on autopilot. The hope is to integrate the automobile as one of the many smart devices that makes for a “smart” lifestyle. At Qualcomm’s booth, we were taken through a virtual reality demo to see what this would look like. We saw smart cars communicating with smart homes—cars would “inform” homes when their owners arrived and automatically turn on the lights and air conditioning. Too good to be true? While these types of integrations are still far in the future, there are many smart home devices (from light bulbs to appliances) already on the market that can be installed to fit your needs. Want to learn more? Contact us.