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In the first part of our exploration about the evolution of smart homes, we consider how to control and command your smart homes

Nineteen seventy-five was a momentous year. The Vietnam War ended. Margaret Thatcher became leader of UK's Conservative Party. The first summer blockbuster film, Steven Spielberg’s Jaws, was released. Queen’s epic Bohemian Rhapsody reached number 1 on the music charts.

And in the tiny town of Glenrothes in Scotland, Pico Electronics invented the X10 protocol. X what? Pico Who?

Believe it or not, this relatively innocuous codename has a significant impact that rivals the earth-shattering headlines from 1975. As a programming and technology protocol that allows separate electric devices in a home to talk to one another via electrical wires, X10 pioneered remote control and created the first home network.

Perhaps it might seem trite now but being able to control all the lights and devices in a house through a button-based console —delightfully wood-panelled in that '70s way—was mind-blowing.

It was the genesis of smart homes.

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Today, X10 devices can communicate with each other in less than a second. In fact, X10 is still used as an inexpensive and ubiquitous tech. Advances in innovation have upgraded most of our smart communication to radio waves. What has changed is presence. X10, in its original iteration, required that to be physical—someone somewhere must push an actual button.

X10’s descendants that form the modern smart home have removed that need. In 2022, through the magic of radio waves and satellite communication, you could be a thousand miles away in a lush tropical Maldivian resort and still be able to feed the cats, water the plants, or even unlock the front door to let neighbour Lily borrow some sugar.

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Much of that can even be scheduled in advance—reliable WiFi connection can be a challenge in a lush tropical Maldivian resort—so the house can clean itself or generate solar energy automatically while you scuba dive or enjoy a cliffside massage as waves crash steeply below.

Yes, contemporary smart homes have evolved to a point where you can go on vacation or a business trip, and still be confident that everything at home is functioning. No more trepidation as you open the front door after a month of being away. Knowledge is power, and smart homes give you that power.

 

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CONTROL

So, where do you start? How should you start? Like with X10 back then, you need a hub. Unlike X10, though, you have more choices now.

Not too many. There may be thousands upon thousands of smart home products in the market, but they still adhere to only a handful of ecosystems. The three main ones are Google’s Nest, Amazon’s Alexa, and Apple’s HomeKit. Whichever you choose, each forms the central nervous system of a smart home.

That command centre is primarily virtual but still requires some physical appendages—a speaker that picks up your virtual instructions or a smartphone where orders are made. A hub is what allows the Internet of Things to work; a smart home might be comprised of dozens of smart devices connected through WiFi, but each is just a conscript in an army. They need a general and a commanding officer to function in tandem.

Which you choose is a personal preference. And, to an extent, branding. If you’ve got an Android smartphone, then the Google Nest makes sense. But if you’re fully invested in the house that Steve Jobs built, the Apple HomeKit seems a natural fit. Amazon’s Alexa probably has the broadest range of compatibility, given its head start in the smart home arena.

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Still, its global coverage is not as comprehensive as Google or Apple’s. However, Alexa has hooked onto Amazon’s all-encompassing virtual marketplace, allowing retail synergies. Apple—as always—maintains a tighter grip on certification and access, and therefore has the lowest compatibility. But the products that are Apple-compatible are of a higher quality and standard.

In terms of coverage, almost all smart devices offer support for multiple ecosystems—even the more esoteric ones from Japan or China—but there is still an element of gambling at work. Behind the hub are the protocols. X10 is still in use, with ZigBee and Z-Wave being the most prominent mesh radio networks. Some products support all standards, some only a few. So choose wisely.

And while betting on ZigBee-powered devices using Google Nest is a choice we make, there is no guarantee that the protocol or the ecosystem will be abandoned or collapse in the future. But that is a worry for the future, not when you’re about to fly off for a safari.

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COMMAND

Bill Gates’ house on the shores of Lake Washington is built in Pacific Lodge style, echoing the rustic feel of timber cabins and the cultural heritage of the Pacific Northwest. It is also, at some 66,000 square feet, one of the largest smart homes built. Everything in the Gates mansion is pinned with an electronic tracking chip tagged by a hub and monitored through smart devices.

It is a marvel of smart tenets that emphasise sustainability. Room lights turn on ahead as you move through, then switch off automatically. Personal music playlists follow you, and if two people are in the same room, then the playlists mash-up. Television screens detect when you’re out of viewing range, pausing the current show only to resume where you left off in another room.

That level of ‘smartness’ and automation might not be available to all, but the core elements are still the same—once you’ve set up a smart home, how do you command it?

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Vocal instruction, and therefore verbal recognition, is the current main form if the option of having a personal chip for each resident and guest of the house doesn’t apply. And that will require good placement. The receiving nodes of the hub—the speakers that trigger a response whenever they hear ‘Hey Google’ or ‘Alexa, Help!’—need to be placed and spread strategically, especially in a multi-layered, multi-level space.

More importantly, they need to be placed in areas where WiFi connectivity is good because a smart node that cannot connect to the internet is essentially dead weight. This is true when living at home but even truer when away and commanding remotely. It would not just be an inconvenience if a smart light failed to turn off on remote command; it would be a waste of electricity.

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Looking further ahead, there are innovations in store that could change smart commanding even further. Gesture-based devices are being developed, allowing operation through simple hand gestures—the Talon Smart Ring by Titanium Falcon will enable you to command a device through swipes and motion.

Advances in camera technology add detail to those broad gestures, allowing you to control the air conditioner temperature through a twiddle of your thumb from the sofa. And we might not even need screens or nodes anymore.

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have developed paint embedded with conductive nickel electrodes that transmit radio waves as effectively as a wireless router, acting as a spray-on antenna. The paint can even track touches and gestures, estimate body postures, and detect what smart devices are active and where, effectively turning your wall into a touchscreen and a hub, bringing the world one step closer to Blade Runner.

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