Research: How Smart Homes Impact the Market - Do They Help the Market to Adjust to Digital Technology?

Abstract

 

In the research, I consider whether digital technologies associated with smart homes will help us or be unnecessary. More specifically, I look at how smart homes use digital technology to improve our homes and influence our lives. Therefore, I could be drawn three conclusions. The smart home technology is incorporated into the house to automate the tasks, to control efficient house system management as well as to affect new home devices. In other words, currently, we are closely related to smart home technology. In the present life, not the distant future, I think the smart home can help us comfortably and maximize energy efficiency through efficient housing management. In the future, the technologies and devices that can be combined with smart home technology are endless. Also, I think that a way to use smart home technology better than to deny it should be derived.

 

Introduction

 

Purpose

The housing market is rapidly changing by IT. Furthermore, the house we live in is no exception. I mean the world shown in the movie is happening in the reality in which we live. In the research, I consider whether digital technologies associated with smart homes will help us or be unnecessary. Moreover, I look at how smart homes use digital technology to improve our homes and influence our lives with concrete research examples. Consequently, in the research, there are three thesis statements. Firstly, smart home technology is incorporated into houses and condos to automate the tasks normally performed by humans. Secondly, efficient house management is possible through smart homes with digital technology. Thirdly, the smart home market creates new products in connection with digital technology.

 

Background

Smart home technology is emerging as an attractive market with high potential for companies seeking new growth engines. It is just developed 10 years ago based on the family interconnection, but it is a basic form of home automation. Recently, smart devices and high-speed integration in the smart home market are growing into a huge industry (Kim, Y., Park, Y., & Choi, J., 2017).

 

Main Body Section 1

 

The smart home technology is incorporated into houses and condos to automate the tasks normally performed by humans.

 

Using Amazon Echo and Google Home, smart home technology control, and manage smart home devices or system as humans would do (Pitsker, K., 2017). Besides, the smart homes can program the temperature and humidity in the home, adjust the pool heater, check on a child and see who's at his or her front door (Hanes, T., 2019). Robots are not the only ones helping us. In the smart home system, we can get help on what we want to be done through the IT or IT device control system and smart devices based on connected devices. According to research by Batalla, J. M., Vasilakos, A., & Gajewski, M. (2017) more and more homes are equipped with smart devices that interact with residents, observe and learn behavior, and provide active services accordingly. They say “designed to be more comfortable, enhance safety, and manage energy. In addition, until very recently, all these applications are isolated islands each device typically works with multiple devices communicating in the same radio space.” Today, each home forms an ecosystem where all devices work together to provide different services and share wireless spaces (Batalla, J. M., Vasilakos, A., & Gajewski, M., 2017). While researching, I was surprised that the system of the smart home is creating their ecosystem by interlocking the systems beyond the concept of helping humans, and I was also a little scared.

In the HVAC market, the field I am studying, smart home technology is being actively used and it has made our living space more convenient. For instance, Ecovent’s system is centered on smart vents that homeowners install in place of traditional vents. They then plug one sensor into each room, place a control hub anywhere in the house, and input the desired temperatures for each room into a smartphone app. The sensors constantly measure a room’s temperature and relay that information to the hub, which tells the vents how much to open or close. The system also learns the behavior, so it eventually adjusts to the users’ preferences (Matheson, R., 2015).    I am able to find out through research that smart homes are being actively applied to HVAC in the field I am studying. In addition, smart homes are still developing a lot in the field by applying IT technology to the existing smart home market.

In conclusion, I find that smart homes are closely related to the house we live in and that it directly or indirectly helps the general actions that humans do.

In addition, smart homes are able to recognize and learn the behaviors of humans themselves by combining IT technology. In this part, smart homes are becoming a technology that copes with humans faster than I thought.

In the next chapter, I look at what changes as smart homes are applied to our home or building.

 

Main Body Section 2

 

Efficient house management is possible through smart homes with digital technology.

 

Examples of smart home applications are examined in the above chapter, and in this chapter, I look into specific examples of what areas are effective when smart homes are applied. The first thing to look at is whether or not energy can be efficiently managed when smart homes are applied. Even though, a smart home system that recognizes and applies human circadian rhythms and behavior, I wonder whether the energy is effectively utilized by applying it eco-friendly. In particular, many industrial sectors have been developing smart homes by making it into a comprehensive lifestyle service, which manages efficient heating, air conditioning, and electricity, and combining it with U-Health (Kim, Y., Park, Y., & Choi, J., 2017).

Smart home technology is being implemented in the house or building where we live for efficient energy management. Furthermore, there is a more specific example of energy management in a home through a smart home. According to a study (Harris, A. D., 2019), EcoNet Smart Thermostat controls a home’s air conditioning, heating, and water heating appliances while managing 65 percent of the energy used in a typical home.

Recently, housebuilders have recognized smart homes as architectural interiors and include them in the house during construction to increase customer satisfaction.

The following is an example of how a Canadian building builder sells a new home with a smart home system. For example, Mr. Carey (Hanes, T., 2019) says “Homeowner can control the thermostat with a computer or smartphone, or they can rely on the thermostat's room sensor which manages room hot and cold spots on its own. The idea is to provide homeowners with options that suit their needs and lifestyles.” However, I was looking for statistical research data to see how efficiently energy can be saved and managed through the smart home system, but this part was not found. Perhaps more research is still going on now, and it seems that it is a market where the introduction of a system called smart home has just begun.

The smart home system is not only managing energy-efficiently but also the security area. This means efficient management of security through the smart home is possible. According to research by TWICE magazine (2019) “Security and monitoring are the most established area of the smart home, and in the U.S. saturation is expected to pass the 50-percent mark this year. This is due to two key sub-categories: smart security cameras and video doorbells, the success of which is now spreading to other parts of the world, with video doorbell shipments more than doubling in Europe in 2018.”

In this section, research shows that smart homes can manage houses more efficiently based on digital technology. Now, smart homes are established as basics rather than additional options when building houses. This is a more pronounced phenomenon in the security area. In the next section, I look at how smart home technology has created various application devices and how companies cope with them.

 

Main Body Section 3

 

The smart home market creates new products in connection with digital technology.

 

The smart home market creates new products in connection with digital technology. For instance, smart connected products are transforming existing markets and creating new ones (Kaiser, I., & Stummer, C., 2020). During my research, I look around me.  I can see that there are so many smart devices around me. For example, based on a smartphone, the smartphone is connected to Amazon. As well, the temperature of the house is detected and managed by a smart temperature meter. Even though the smart home system is not a long history, smart homes are deeply approaching to our lives without any rejection. Therefore, I am really curious about how companies do develop and disseminate these devices. In this chapter, I look at how companies are proceeding with devices for connecting with smart homes.

Specifically, Gurman, M., & King, I. (2016) say “Apple Inc. is pressing ahead with the development of an Echo-like smart-home device based on the Siri voice assistant. Started more than two years ago, the project has exited the research and development lab and is now in prototype testing. Like Amazon Inc.'s Echo, the device is designed to voice-control appliances and locks.”

As in this case, it can be seen that many people's R&D, case studies, and research are needed before a company can release a single smart home product. In addition, it is said that many trials and errors are followed until the product is released, and the department disappears in the middle even after conducting research and development.

One thing is clear while researching is that the smart home market continues to grow and new IT products are pouring into the smart home market to keep pace.

Furthermore, I research how the smart home field in the HVAC market. Harris, A. D. (2019) says “Looking ahead to 2022, the smart home market is forecasted to reach $53.5 billion worldwide. That revenue splits into several categories, including smart home security, home entertainment, and connected home products. The result has HVAC companies contemplating how far they should venture into the smart home market and where they should draw the line.”

Consequently, I find that the smart home market and HVAC are closely related. Furthermore, new products are growing together through IT.

 

Conclusion/Recommendations

 

When I first conducted research, I thought that smart homes would be a simple IT device. However, as the research progressed, it was found that smart homes are rapidly growing based on modern IT technology, and the satisfaction of consumers is also increasing.

This research has three clear conclusions. The smart home system has even come to the ability to recognize human beings and perform tasks on their own. Also, it is not just a matter of doing things. It is managed, and this becomes an eco-friendly factor that can reduce energy consumption. Finally, the smart home market is becoming a window for new market creation, and another market is being created through smart homes. Which I am studying, it is also clearly emerging in the HVAC market.

In the future, I have to consider how the smart home market will change and make us more comfortable, and how to use the smart home market to survive in my field of study.

 

 

References

 

Batalla, J. M., Vasilakos, A., & Gajewski, M. (2017). Secure Smart Homes: Opportunities and Challenges. ACM Computing Surveys, 50(5), 75:1-75:32. https://doi-org.gbcprx01.georgebrown.ca/10.1145/3122816

 

Gurman, M., & King, I. (2016, Oct 01). Will smart home get smarter?; voice-activated apple device may be coming. The Vancouver Sun, https://login.gbcprx01.georgebrown.ca/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/1824988226?accountid=27351

 

Hanes, T. (2019). Is your home smart enough?: Smart home technology is being incorporated into houses and condos to save energy, boost security and automate the tasks normally performed by humans. The Globe and Mail (Online), Toronto: The Globe and Mail, Aug 6, 2019. https://search-proquest-com.gbcprx01.georgebrown.ca/canadiannewsmajor/docview/2382227616/8741B73A595D451FPQ/1?accountid=27351

 

Harris, A. D. (2019). HVAC Contractors Are Cautiously Entering the Smart Home Market: Product sampler gives insight to latest technology. Air Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration News, 268(9), 9–11.

 

Kaiser, I., & Stummer, C. (2020). How the Traditional Industrial Manufacturer Miele Established a New Smart Home Division. Research Technology Management, 63(4), 29–34. https://doi-org.gbcprx01.georgebrown.ca/10.1080/08956308.2020.1762446

 

Kim, Y., Park, Y., & Choi, J. (2017). A study on the adoption of IoT smart home service: using Value-based Adoption Model. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 28(9/10), 1149–1165. https://doi-org.gbcprx01.georgebrown.ca/10.1080/14783363.2017.1310708

 

Matheson, R (2015). Smart home heating and cooling: Alumnus uses radar expertise to design automated air-control system for homes. MIT News Office, http://news.mit.edu/2015/smart-home-heating-cooling-0828

 

Pitsker, K. (2017). Home Smart Home. Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, 71(10), 64–69.

 

Turn It Up; Lock It Down: Home security & climate control to continue to drive smart home growth. (2019). TWICE: This Week in Consumer Electronics, 34(2), N.PAG.