What Smart Home trends will emerge in 2020?
As we prepare to flip the calendar and launch into 2020, for consumers, it’s an exciting time to experience smart home technology. The industry is relatively young as life cycles go. The unrelenting pace at which technology continues to progress combined with that juvenile age make it an exciting industry worth watching.
Will making device decisions get easier in 2020?
Maybe. Earlier this month ‘Project Connected Home over IP’ was announced by leading smart device manufacturers. There will be a focus on broadened cross-compatibility in the industry which confirms that consumer calls for it have been heard. As you piece together your connected home the stress of making purchasing decisions based on compatibility will wane over time. It’s unlikely to be resolved fully in 2020 but it is likely the impacts of this work will be felt soon.
Will 5G impact more than our smart phones?
The 5G network being built for smart phones is sure to be a game-changer. What impact it will have on the smart home remains to be seen. The current smart home landscape is fraught with weak Wi-Fi and non-existent standards across the industry (recent signals from manufacturers are that the interoperability challenges will be addressed). Addressing those challenges will take time, but with the high bandwidth 5G as part of the solution the smart home landscape could be considerably different in a couple of years.
Wi-Fi 6 is coming as the new standard in connectivity!
A speed boost is always a positive thing but that is not all that Wi-Fi 6 will bring. If your family members all have multiple devices and you have smart devices scattered throughout your home, it is likely your Wi-Fi network is already congested. That congestion will be alleviated by Wi-Fi 6 because it handles competing bandwidth requests more intelligently and efficiently. Also, the enhanced range and swifter data transmissions will positively impact the battery life of devices. If privacy and security is on your mind, then Wi-Fi 6 with the WPA3 protocol is another benefit to welcome.
Is Rosie the Robot from the Jetsons arriving in 2020?
In simple terms the answer to that question is no. However, single use products like robot vacuums and lawnmowers will continue to appear in more homes. The game-changer in robotics will come when artificial intelligence enables more multi-tasking devices. Multi-tasking devices are also likely to help with smart home integration that will be part of the fundamental shift in the smart home landscape in a couple of years.
Smart home technology will migrate out of the home into the workplace and then even beyond into our cities in the next decade. Technology advances in the form of 5G and Wi-Fi 6 will allow this migration to expand aggressively. The healthcare industry will experience a smart revolution that should really begin in 2020. The smartening of the kitchen and bathroom hasn’t leapt forward in recent years as had been predicted. Considering the time spent in those rooms, the next logical step would be to automate those experiences, so progress is coming. The next unexpected technological advance makes it impossible to accurately predict everything about the industry. However, one thing is certain, these are truly exciting times to be a smart home technology consumer.
