Use Cases of Internet of Things: Home Automation
One of the most common use case of cIoT (Consumer Internet of Things) is “Home Automation”. From Smart Plugs to Bulbs to Motion Sensors to Smart Coffee Makers to Smart Washing Machines and what not….. There is a full-fledged chaos in the home automation market with all kind gadgets and doohickeys!!
The rise of home automation products has started to result in a widely spread syndrome known as “Mindless Connectivity”. People really don’t know what value to drive from all this connectivity.
Would a Smart Refrigerator automatically ordering eggs… really solve the problem? What value do you get from a Washing Machine sending a push notification of completing the laundry job?? What real value do we really get from home automation other than “WoW” factor and impressing our friends?
After a decade of hearing about Home Automation… finally, there is a real value that can come from it… and that is related to our Behaviors!!
The Internet of Things really knows us… and it will show us who we are!
Well, maybe it will not look into our “soul”, but it will definitely let us know what we did for how long, where and when.
We interact with things a lot– and really lot with our mobile phone — and we tend to leave our digital footprints already today with our actions. How much of this is being or will be recorded and processed is an open question, but Facebook and Four Square for example already provide us and insight into how much some people are willing to share with the world. So why not we let the “smart things” record our everyday actions around the house to figure out where does our time and money really goes –what is a good and what is a bad day??
One application can be informed of a Home Central Control or HCC. The HCC provides the complete control of your house. It regulates access, energy, heating according to your environmental conditions, profile and price.
The HCC would trigger the heating system by combining data from outdoor and indoor temperature, weather forecast from the Internet, and user preferences. It can adjust the house energy consumption to the real needs of the household, and most importantly it helps you save money.
The HCC recognizes with a high probability which appliances (washing machine, dishwasher, water heater, heating system, etc.) are turned on at a given time and synchronizes them to ensure the best energy efficiency taking into account pricing structure of the utility companies and backup power options available like generators, UPS and renewable sources like Solar & Wind.
Sensors and tags in objects are already recording when they are being used and for how long — linking this with who is using them is just another step. The Internet of Things enables tracking of how people interact with their surroundings. This is a piece of information that can really lead us to the knowledge on how to improve our day, find ways of saving costs and energy, or simply remembering and sharing what we are doing now and did in the past!
