Estate Living Magazine New Beginnings - Issue 37 January 2019 | Page 57

L I V E
Extra security features increasingly gaining popularity overseas
include answering the doorbell from another location, so that
it looks as if you’re home even while you’re lying on a beach in
the Bahamas. Other conveniences include adjusting the inside
temperature of your home by switching on the under-floor heating
or the air conditioning before you enter.
‘Within the next year, you should be able to close and open your
curtains remotely,’ she says.
All that is necessary for smart home activation is broadband
connectivity.
Sandy Geffen, Executive Director of Lew Geffen International Realty
in South Africa, says South African consumers are ‘increasingly
sitting up and taking notice of technology available to them.
‘The trend has taken root overseas, with recent polls showing that
up to 45% of Americans have, or are planning on investing in, smart
home technologies.’
Globally, studies show that the smart security systems market grew
95% between the second quarter of 2016 and the second quarter
of 2017, with some projections estimating that, by 2023, the global
market will hover around the US$75 billion mark.
At home, Geffen says the biggest adopters of this technology
also happen to cross over with the largest home-buying market –
millennials.
and needs change. ‘But certainly, managing your home from your
smartphone or tablet with one touch will become the norm.’
Cool products are increasing the demand. If you ever envied those
who had access to the all-knowing computer in Star Trek, or Hal
9000 in A Space Odyssey, Alexa – Amazon Echo’s smart home
assistant – is now on hand to help you control most of the gadgets
in your house using the sound of your voice. Let Alexa open your
curtains, update your shopping list and even read you the news.
Just make sure you use her name, as in, ‘Alexa, switch on the
bathroom light.’ She may even answer countless silly questions, call
you an Uber or sing you a lullaby if you have trouble sleeping.
Eventually, smart toilets, for which users can choose the seat
temperature or the slow-closing lid option, will be mainstream.
Your entertainment system will automatically pause your movie
and brighten lights when, say, your phone rings or it senses
someone at the door. Thermostats with room sensors will offer a
preferred temperature for each room based on previous preferred
temperature settings.
Be ready for virtual styling assistants who will store your wardrobe
as a virtual closet and suggest outfits. And compulsive checkers
will be delighted that they can ascertain via their phones whether
they have turned off all their appliances, and whether the door is
locked. (Is this a good thing, or will it just encourage people to
compulsively check their phones 73 times a day?)
Perhaps the best invention of all will be a smart bed that will not
only warm your feet on command but will raise your side of the bed
if it detects that you’re snoring – before you wake your partner.
Now that’s smart.
‘It’s very likely that in the near future, smart systems will be at the top
of the wish list for these buyers who have never known life without
the internet. It’s a generation for whom technology is an intrinsic
part of their daily lives. Managing all their appliances from an app,
switching on lights by voice activation and enjoying the speed-
saving convenience of having a preheated oven by the time they
get home after a day in the office is not a stretch for this generation.
S M A R T
O
‘Besides appealing to a new generation of buyers, automation can
increase your level of security,’ she says.
‘Experts agree that the most effective way to prevent criminals
from gaining access to your property is through a layered security
system, and by incorporating security and surveillance features
in your smart home network you can tighten your security
exponentially.’
Obviously, technology can be inserted in stages, says Motloutsi.
You can choose your level of automation starting with basic lighting
and security, and increase applications over time as your budget
Nia Magoulianiti-McGregor