After receiving the brief which is all about future smart home ecosystems, my classmates (Kaley, Aoife, and Chloe) and I did a mind map of everything that relates to homes. After writing it all up all the topics we then separated them into different sections.

We wanted to understand all the areas that are part of the home ecosystem and the potential they have.

What is a Smart Home?

A smart home is a house that uses internet-connected devices to enable remote monitoring and management of appliances and systems eg lighting and heating. It is often referred to as home automation and is meant to provide homeowners with security, comfort, convenience, and energy efficiency by allowing smart devices to control the system.

The system would be a controllable network with all of the items being part of the Internet of Things allowing them to share data and automatically do things, there would be a master home automation controller more commonly known as a smart home hub. It is connected to all the devices it processes their data and communicates with them wirelessly. Smart homes currently can either be programmed to follow specific schedules or commands or activated through voice commands.

Where did they come from?

1975 the release of X10 brought Smart Home In automation to life it used the home's electrical wiring system to send digital commands to devices but there were many issues with this system due to electrical noise and one-way communication, so signals were lost. Then in 1984, the American Association of Home Builders coined the term smart house to promote the concept of technology in home design but it wasn't till 2005 when home automation company Insteon started to introduce technology that would combine electrical wiring with wireless signals which removed the issues from x10.

In 2007 the first smart TVs were released they offered the integration of internet-connected services like streaming and access to user-generated content. In 2011 Nests Labs released its first smart project which was a thermostat the company was also creating smart smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and security cameras it later was acquired by Google in 2015. 2012 SmartThings Inc. Launched a Kickstarter campaign which raised $1.2 million to fund a smart home system it entered the market in 2013 and was acquired by Samsung in 2014. Since then smart speakers like Google Home, Google Nest, and Alexa.

Types of Smart home technology

• Smart TVs - the TV connected to other devices to allow you to stream video and music. There are some available that include voice and gesture commands
• Smart lighting systems - the lighting system can be controlled remotely and customised so that it detects when people are in the room and adjusts the lighting to their needs. There are also smart light bulbs that can regulate themselves by the daylight available.
• Smart thermostat - the system is connected through the Wi-Fi letting the users schedule calm to monitor and remotely control the home temperatures. They are also able to learn behaviours and automatically modify settings to provide maximum comfort and efficiency.
• Smart locks and garage doors - they can grant access or deny it. They also have a proximity alert on them to detect the residents who are nearby and have the ability to unlock the doors for them.
• Smart security cameras and systems - they are able to monitor their homes when they are away, Smartcentres smart centres can detect the difference between residents, visitors, pets, and burglars they also have the ability to notify the authorities of suspicious behaviours.
• Pet and lawn care - automatic feeders that are connected to the internet to adjust schedules. House plants and lawns have the ability to be watered using connected timers.
• Smart kitchen appliances - anything from coffee makers that are able to brew coffee automatically, to smart fridges that keep track of expiry dates, make shopping lists or even recipes. Other appliances like slow cookers, toasters, washing machines, and dryers.
• A smart household monitor - can have the ability to sense power surges and turn off appliances, sense water failures or freezing pipes and have the ability to turn off the water to limit the amount of damage.
• Smart plugs-they can control things like automatic lights or ceiling fans and even be controlled by mobile apps or voice assistants.

https://www.techtarget.com/iotagenda/definition/smart-home-or-building