The futuristic homes we’ve seen in sci-fi movies and cartoons – from flying cars to robot assistants and from smart kitchen gadgets to remote-controlled everything – is already becoming a reality. Of course, connected homes are still in their infancy, but modern homes are already dependant on wireless connectivity and are increasingly deploying smart devices and multiplying their connections to the internet, indicating that the home automation market is set to grow leaps and bounds in the coming days. With new products and services hitting the market at a growing rate, the global smart home market size is expected to grow from $78.3 billion in 2020 to $135.3 billion by 2025, garnering a CAGR of 11.6% over the evaluated period, according to a research report.
Now with the Covid-19 outbreak, with more people staying at home and working from their home facilities, there will be a greater adoption of home automation technologies in the next one year, predicts Veego Software, an Israel-based firm that applies AI and other innovative technologies to generate data and insights from the connected home.
“2021 looks like a banner year for the connected home especially in the wake of the COVID pandemic,” Veego CEO, Amir Kotler, told CXOToday. “More devices, more services, more apps, more time spent on the internet, invite AI and other technologies to help people with their online work, school, and entertainment.”
Kotler details five key predictions that will lead to the escalation in the number of connected homes globally and the future of the market in 2021.
Prediction 1: AI to dominate smart homes. With troves of data everywhere, new technologies, especially AI, will enable the generation and collection of all sorts of data about what millions of users are doing on the internet, what home devices they are employing, what kinds of apps they are utilizing, and more. With insights gained from this data, media, app, device, and other providers will increasingly track and perfect their customers’ experience as they shop, learn, and play online.
As Kotler says, “There is an urgent need for AI technology which will enable the profiling of each connected home and its personalization according to the needs of the people using the internet.”
Prediction 2: Wi-Fi 6 will be flying off the shelves. Known in technical circles as 802.11ax, the new Wi-Fi standard is already operating on a new generation of routers. Delivering improved security, lower battery consumption, increased capacity, and higher data rates, Wi-Fi 6 is ideal for accommodating all those new smart devices home-internet users are installing.
Prediction 3: Measurement of Customer Experience over the internet. Communication Service Providers, media companies, and smart device manufacturers all want to measure Customer Experience (CX), and now they can.
Kotler believes, the complexity of the connected home is growing, making it increasingly difficult for internet service providers to address problems. Hence, they need to find out how their service stacks up against competitors and how customers go about deciding among them.
Prediction 4: Malfunctions will be moving toward the devices. Till now, most home connectivity problems (75-90%) have been concentrated around the home router and Wi-Fi signals. As routers become more powerful and capable, they will be responsible for relatively fewer problems. Now that internet users are working and learning more from home, pesky malfunctions will increasingly originate in new smart devices being installed in increasing numbers.
Prediction 5: Self-Care is prompt care. Communication Service Providers, online media companies, and smart-device manufacturers are being crushed by the volume of support calls and the time and complexity of dealing with them, not to mention the astronomical expenses. AI technology and all that new data will tell users at home what is causing connectivity problems along with recommendations for fixing them, deflecting and shorting support calls and making users happier with the prompt and effective care.
