5 Smart Gadgets for Homeowners Revealed at CES 2019
This past week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, several new smart home products were showcased. These products are designed to make your home safer and you healthier.
Walabot Home
This brand-new sensor for the home is designed to detect if someone has fallen within the home. If it detects a fall, it will alert authorities that an incident has occurred. The technology used to detect falls was adapted from breast cancer imaging. Low power radio waves map the room. If it detects a fall a voice will call out asking you to stand. If the person does not, an alert will be delivered to the primary caregiver. While it seems like a good idea for an aging population increasingly searching for independence, false alarms are a problem.
Vayyar Stud Finder
This one is a little bit less safety oriented, but any homeowner would be interested in the device. It is a DIY smartphone attachment that uses radio frequency technology to “see through” walls. A demo showcased at CES found a variety of pipes, wires, and studs through drywall. Anyone looking to do the wiring for their smart home will find this device immensely helpful. Imagine being able to find studs and see beyond your walls when planning a large project like home elevators or a new addition to your home.
Kapsul Smart Air Conditioner
This smart air conditioner won’t be available on the market until 2020, but it is designed to be quiet and accessible remotely. You can schedule the device to turn on at your convenience, and it is even compatible with smart home assistants like Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, or home theatre. The company first turned to Kickstarter to raise $3.5m in crowdfunding for the fabled air conditioner.
Water Control
One of the best ways to save money in a smart home is controlling resources that are used. Smart water company Flo has created a security system attached to your main pipe that monitors for leaks. If it detects a change in water pressure, flow, or temperate, it will ping your smartphone to let you know. Flo uses an algorithm to learn your home’s behaviors, so it can tell you what normal water consumption looks like for your home at that time of the week. The service also features Alexa and Google Assistant integration for real-time updates of your water usage.
Energy Control
Sense is another smart utility monitor that keeps track of your home’s electricity usage. It knows the unique signature of all connected appliances so you can quickly see which devices are consuming tons of electricity. Sense says 75% of its customers are still using the device after a year, suggesting it could help people understand their power usage better. When the company partnered with Vermont Efficient last year, a pilot study determined that Sense saved at least $100 per year.
It’s interesting to see the aspects of a home that are beginning to be automated. Most of this year’s presentation focused on automated overall usage aspects like water and electricity. But smart homes of the future will be able to regulate themselves without human input.
Author: Justin Weinger