TECH INNOVATION: Welcome to the smart home era

FROM DIGITAL HEARING AIDS TO SMART TVS AND ROBOT LAWNMOWERS, SMART INNOVATIONS ARE ALREADY MAKING OUR LIVES EASIER

THE future of your home is likely to be a more connected one, as digital innovation continues to work towards making our lives both easier and greener.

The world in 2019 would once have been imagined with cities in the sky, flying cars and commuter jet-packs. And while our reality is not quite as science fiction as past predictions, it is a pretty clever one.

Over the past 20 years, innovation and invention have quietly shaped how we live and work – with the continuing evolution of smart home connected appliances, lighting and heating systems, and even smart meters.

Smart meters are not only an easy tool to track energy use in the home, but the smart meter rollout will support the country in adapting to new, greener ways to generate energy, such as wind or solar power. Smart meters will also help to inform the smart grid about near real-time energy usage and will facilitate a shift towards a cleaner, flexible system for a more energy efficient future.

More efficient energy use is not the only smart development we can look forward to within our homes. The majority of households in the UK have access to the internet and this is paving the way to a smarter, more connected way of life.

SMART HOMES

In the last four years there has been a surge in smart TV purchases, with almost half of the UK’s population now owning one – allowing us to watch what we want, when we want.

But it’s not just entertainment that has been impacted by digital tech – you can get connected devices to help you do all sorts of tasks in the home: from automated vacuum cleaners, remote video security cameras and voiceactivated lighting systems, to app controlled heating systems and smart meters, which show exactly how much energy you are using in pounds and pence, via an in-home display.

All of these are relatively recent innovations that, even if they had been showcased 20 years ago, would have seemed more science fiction than science fact.

“In the past few years, we’ve seen