New technologies make our lives easier. The rise of the smartphone put a powerful multi-tool in our pocket; electric cars will reduce noise and pollution in our cities, therefore helping protect the environment; 4G and 5G technology keep us connected, and satellites are looking as if they’ll increasingly blanket the world with an internet that’s open to all. With all this in mind, how has technology impacted our homes in the past 10 years or so? This article looks at seven of the most impressive technologies to improve our homes in recent years.
Smart Utilities
Only five years ago, the average homeowners won’t have heard of smart utilities. It’s been a steep and impressive rise for these kinds of technologies, which pays homage to their effectiveness and popularity. Smart meters help people control the amount they spend on their utility use; smart heating can be controlled remotely (flicked on via an app as you’re on the way home from work), and smart lighting controls mean you don’t have to forever get up to switch lights on and off in your property.
It’s not laziness that smart utilities encourage, though; it’s efficiency. By ensuring that lights and heating are off whenever you leave your home, smart utility technology means that you’re wasting less energy (and therefore less cash) on bills. This in turn helps the environment, of course, which is another key selling point for smart meter technologies.
Interior Design Software
Not so long ago, it was difficult for anyone other than an architect trained in interior sketching to demonstrate what home interiors might look like upon their completion. That’s changed dramatically in recent years, with software developed that even the layperson can use to produce renderings of interiors that have not yet been created. Look to Cedreo 3D renderings for instance, to see how interior designers are now empowered to improve and perfect their designs.
The result of such software is better interiors. That’s the case for new builds that’ll home a rising population, and existing interiors that are being honed by their owners. Such software is cheap to purchase, and some of the most basic software is even free to use.
Entertainment
The world of home entertainment has taken a dramatic shift since the advent of wireless technology. The humble remote control may have appeared like wizardry to citizens in the 1960s, but in today’s world, you can control all of your home entertainment devices from applications on your smartphone. From smart speakers that synchronize what they’re playing across your entire home to smart televisions connected to Netflix and Amazon Prime, this is a major boon for homeowners.
Technology is now in development to make home entertainment even more simple and modern. Watch out for new releases in this space in the coming years, including incredible television screens that are as flat as your smartphone, and speakers that integrate into the walls of your home, rather than sticking out from the corners of each room.
Materials
Shifting now from digital technology to other emerging technologies, it’s important to consider the way in which newly developed materials are making homes better. There are several use cases for new materials, but some of the most impressive and important for planet and homeowner alike comes in the form of insulation. This material (placed in walls and ceilings) helps to keep the heat or the cool air inside homes, negating the need for heating or air conditioning.
This is incredibly important in a world that’s facing a climate crisis. The more effective a home is at naturally regulating its temperature, the less energy will be expended trying to keep it habitable and comfortable. Ultimately, the investment in new insulation materials will save homeowners cash, meaning they’re able to spend more on interior decorations rather than merely keeping their home warm or cool.
3D Printing
You may struggle to believe it, but recent advances in 3D printing technology have enabled companies to produce large machines that can actually 3D print a home. The process can take as little time as a week, which is a huge victory for housing development firms as well as for the governments who are looking for new ways to produce low-cost housing at a pace across the world.
The spectacle of watching one of these homes being printed is incredibly impressive. Yet what’s truly exciting about this technology is the way in which homeowners may one day be able to design their own 3D printed home, using the same basic technology to facilitate different builds at different sites. If you’re interested in learning more about 3D printed homes, there’s plenty of literature available on the internet to explain how it all works.
Deliveries
Technology that is developed outside of the home can also profoundly affect life within it. We saw that during the pandemic when we were all forced to revert to a digital existence, and use remote working technologies rather than commuting into the office or workplace. We also saw it in the rise in online shopping, and the deliveries we’d receive to our homes each and every day.
Homeowners may take this for granted, yet deliveries of products, medicine, and food, often within hours of ordering, don’t just happen by chance. They’re the result of an incredible system by which orders are instantly assessed and tracked by large software models, which gather the data and make decisions that result in packages being distributed and delivered far quicker than before.
Internet
Finally, none of the above could be facilitated without high-speed internet, which is being rolled out physically and in the airwaves as you read this. There’s 4G and 5G technology supporting our mobile internet, and fiber optic cables being laid across the country to ensure that homes are able to make use of extra-fast processing speeds in their homes. Smart TVs, smart appliances, smart utilities, and everything else all depend upon this high-speed internet; and it’s only set to become more speedy and less frustrating as the years go by.
These seven home improvements have been facilitated by technologies that have emerged in the past handful of years or are emerging presently. They’re making life easier and homes better in the modern era.
Featured image: Pixabay (newhouse).
