Smart homes: The house that knows what you need better than you do
Futuresource Consulting has just published its 'smart home consumer study' and it found that smart device owners want more.
The study surveyed over 4,000 consumers who make use of vioce personal assistants (VPAs) and other smart home devices.
According to Futuresource research, after consumers install their first device they are often keen on automating further.
Filipe Oliveira, Futuresource analyst says, "Smart lighting and smart thermostats are among the most popular smart home devices.
"However, it is home security devices that majority of respondents report as the first smart products they installed.
"Products that fall under climate control are growing in popularity, but our survey revealed that this is a fragmented category with low levels of brand recognition, because of this it is a challenge for manufacturers.
Automated entertainment systems are also amongst the most popular smart home devices.
Two in three respondents considered music and other audio/video content to be important in the context of a smart home.
Oliveira continues, "The results provide evidence that the smart home can grow by stealth, as users who installed one device are more likely to want to automate their homes further.
"Across all segments, 30% of consumers expect to control more of their homes wirelessly in the near future.
"However, the number is substantially higher among those who already own at least one smart home device, with 89% of advanced users expecting to control more of their homes wirelessly in the next 6-12 months.
VPA speakers are some of the simplest smart home devices to install and offer a broad spectrum of features to the user.
VPA speakers can control the heating, lighting as well as audio around the house.
Recently, VPA speakers have even been used to order groceries, directly delivered to the house.
Futuresource believes that the outlook for uptake is very healthy, with products ranging from speakers to refrigerators proliferating households in the coming years, turning ordinary homes into smart homes.
