Modern technology has truly revolutionized how we live our day-to-day lives – from our smartphones that serve as our alarms, calendars, watches, sources of entertainment, and modes of communication, all the way to our vehicles with WiFi and Bluetooth, dashcams, automatic braking and parking, and even self-driving technologies too.
The real estate industry is no exception – from smart glass technology to AI-powered appliances, there's no stopping the rise of technologically upgraded homes. Today, the smart home system is promoted, invested in, and desired by tech-savvy homeowners and aspiring homebuyers ultimately to make their lives easier, taking delight in the convenience and efficiency of smart home technology.
But first, we have to know what exactly a smart home is.
Smart Homes: More Than Just a Trend
Not merely separately-operating gadgets and appliances, a smart home would mean an entirely interconnected system, with its "parts" coordinating with and responding to different areas of the home. But as much as smart home systems are connected parts of a whole, you aren't restricted to one system manufacturer: you can assemble a smart home system according to the brands you trust.
However, it's easier to acquire a system from one source, so that installation, repairs, and replacements are much more systematic and efficient. When planning to get yourself a smart home system, it's always good to do some prior research and familiarize yourself with the terms, mechanisms, and prices of the kind of smart home system that's best suited for you and your family's needs.
But if you don't have the time, energy, or financial resources at the moment to acquire an entire smart home system, then you can get started with individually purchasable smart devices and technologies, as listed below.
Voice Assistants
Widely used in interpreting human speech, voice assistance devices employ a pre-recorded and synthesized voice to respond to human commands and questions. The most common narrow AI-powered voice assistance programs include the Amazon-owned Alexa, Siri by Apple, Microsoft's Cortana, and Google Assistant.
But more than just voice command software for making to-do lists and asking about the weather, voice assistance can be integrated into a smart home system to control specific areas at home, like opening or closing the living room curtains, getting the AC temperature in the bedroom right, or turning off the kitchen stove after cooking, even without you saying so.
Voice assistants can also coordinate with various types of technology at home, as shown below:
Smart Glass Technology
Glass technology was introduced to the Philippine market with cutting edge features such as instant privacy, where your glass fogs on command — windows and doors can switch back and forth from being completely transparent to opaque. This is especially ideal for certain areas in the home like meeting rooms or dining rooms.
The technology behind this is a laminated material called polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) that is placed in between the layers of glass. PDLC responds to electrical current, which enables you to control it at a push of a button. Meanwhile, other notable features of smart glass works include heat insulation, sound insulation, rear projection screen, and fire hazard proofing, among a slew of others.
Smart Home Security Systems
Making use of your Wi-Fi network, smart home security systems can connect your smart locks and smart lightbulbs to your sensors, home alarms, or even to making emergency phone call if it detects that you're at risk of a home invasion. Especially if your location is high risk, you can also connect your system to your security electric fences or a sublethal remote camera gun.
Smart home systems are a great investment if you have a huge family to take care of, as well as the many valuables you may have at home. Especially among high-profile homeowners, smart home systems are not just luxury, but a necessity.
Smart HVAC Systems
It's widely known that heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems can be timed, and can also be manually started or stopped via a personal device or through voice command.
But when it comes to smart HVAC systems, the thermostats and indoor temperature control are on auto-pilot: they can sense when to turn the temperature up or down, depending on the weather outside. But most of all, smart HVAC systems help regulate your electric consumption, which saves you a lot of money in the long run.
Smart Food Storage
Some smart refrigerators have built-in cameras to detect if goods like meat, fish, fruits, and vegetables are stale or going bad. Smart fridges can also help you save on electricity costs through constantly monitoring issues within the appliance, as well as enabling the user to adjust the fridge temperature via third-party devices like their smartphones or tablets – which is why most of the newer releases have built-in WiFi for smoother and faster user control.
Overall, almost anything you can think of that's part of a home, you can connect to your smart home system – as long as your device or appliance is also smart. It's interesting to observe through the years how far this system has gone; from science fiction to actual reality, especially in technologically advanced Asian countries like Japan, South Korea, and Singapore.
How the Rise of Smart Homes are Changing the Real Estate Industry
It has been projected that Asia Pacific will account for 25% of smart home technologies worldwide by the year 2030. And according to local market forecasts, the smart home market in Philippines is expected to show a 13.35% boost by 2027, with majority of households investing in smart appliances, followed by home technologies for control and connectivity, as well as for security.
Our local real estate industry is gearing up for this projected rise too, with projects such as the Villar-owned VistaLand's Eliot, a luxury smart home that combines traditional home design and modern home system technologies. Meanwhile, other local real estate giants like Ayala Land, SMDC, and DMCI are also expected to follow suit in the coming years.
We have also seen the rise of companies like Smart Homes Philippines and Nort Milken Digital Technologies trailblazing in the field of smart home systems locally – making smart living technologies more accessible to Filipinos who would like to upgrade their home living.
This goes to show how it's only a matter of time for the demand for smart home systems to reach its all time high, especially with vast threats of home security risks, the demand for convenience, and the need to keep up with the ever-evolving technological advancements today.