The Future of Homes: From Smart to Autonomous

For years, consumers have been promised that their homes will be connected and smart, integrating the latest technology to optimize and control lighting, heating, energy consumption, electronic devices, and security features.

However, the future has come a little slower than expected. By the end of 2017, it’s estimated that only 16.3% of Americans will live in a smart home, though this percentage will increase to 35.6% by 2021.

Examining the Smart Home Market

Today’s infographic comes from Insurance Quotes, and it helps to give an overview of the current market as well as the reasons for hesitation in the switch to smart homes.

The infographic also provides a future outlook, including the impending movement to “autonomous” smart homes.

In 2016, smart systems were installed in about 45% of all homes in the U.S. that got renovated.

However, they are far from ubiquitous yet – many consumers still have concerns that are holding the market back from reaching its full potential.

Top Trepidations

The largest hindrance to smart homes for now is cost, which is cited by 42% of consumers as an obstacle.

However, there is also evidence that a fear of devices being hacked is also a challenge for many wanting to adopt the technology – in fact, 17% prospective buyers cite privacy and security concerns as a top hindrance. Further, about 10% of consumers have already had smart home devices hacked, and 87% of them had to shell out money to solve the issue.

Paradoxically, even though technologically superior security systems are a top reason that homeowners want to have smarter homes in the first place, the vast majority of IT experts say that IoT apps such as those used at home are far harder to secure than regular mobile apps.

Autonomous Smart Homes

After smart homes, the next logical step is an autonomous smart home that can learn based on your habits and behaviors. Such a home would recognize you and other family members, adapting things like temperature, lighting, or recommendations to you automatically based on your lifestyle and activities.

For this to work – everything would need to be truly connected: your mattress would assess how you sleep, your alarm would connect to your coffee maker, and the morning lighting would be shifted to match your evolving preferences.

While there are many uncertainties about what an autonomous smart home would mean, the inevitability of their rise is clear.