Lowering Barriers to the Smart Home, and Healthy Home

Unlike traditional market research and forecasts, “Middle Market: Lowering Barriers to the Smart Home” offers specific analysis and advice that can help companies and the entire industry advance into the next stage of smart home adoption. This 12-page white paper by Parks Associates is available online if you agree to receive email from them.

Crossing the Chasm 

I have long been a fan of Geoffrey Moore’s book series— even before I retired from IBM 25 years ago. So, I’m happy Parks referred to his concepts and what has been holding this industry back. I’ve also long been critical of what I’ve called The Elusive Smart Home market. The Parks paper addresses many of my concerns with good advice. I will additional insights here.

Value Proposition 

The early majority needs a better understanding of the benefits of the smart home proposition. Where can they see it in action? 

• Online outlets like Amazon and Dell have some of the greatest potential. I joined Dell after IBM to exploit that, but they too have not found the right formula, even simulating smart home models on their website.
• Retail outlets like Best Buy also have potential, but so far they have not setup a store-within-a-store to show off the value of a working smart home. 
• Home Insurance is a marketing channel I had not considered, although I don’t really see them as a way to demo the value proposition. They’d make a good partner, however, especially if included as part of the initial home sale when buyers are more likely to switch.
• Home builders and MDU developers are not listed in the chart but also have potential. I keep saying they’re missing a huge opportunity by not promoting the concept of a Healthy Home. If they promoted circadian lighting and other technologies to improve overall wellness and productivity at school and work, they could talk about economic value that could pay for the entire house as I wrote here. A Lamar Homes model I once visited featured voice control of smart home options with signs placed in a ceiling corner of each room, describing what could be said. It actually worked and generated interest. At least it caught my attention.
• Local home shows, also not listed, might be useful too, but they’re temporary. I can imagine a retailer like Best Buy using them as a traveling exhibit. I thought of this because consumers don’t go to events like the Consumer Electronics Show, where companies often show the smart home value proposition. 

Platforms

With 18% of U.S. Internet households owning 6+ smart home devices, I agree the challenge now is how to expand. Consumers don’t want to use one speech technology to talk to their phone and watch, another to talk to their smart speaker, and yet another for their TV. Matter is an emerging industry technology that promises to help converge different network technologies and platforms. It has potential and will help, but I see disruptive conflicts with another emerging technology: HCA (home connectivity alliance). 

The big question I keep asking is, where does the smart home’s intelligence reside? 

• Is it in the security system, like the HAI system that ran my home with the Austin American Statesman did a two-page feature article on my home in 1997.
• Is it in the TV set-top box like ROKU or AppleTV?
• Is it in the smart speaker, a dedicated controller, or a PC that stay powered on? 
• Or is it in a cloud service, and what new security concerns does that bring?

IP ownership 

The unresolved problem I see with platforms and device protocols is IP ownership. Each company seems to want their technology to be chosen as the standard so they can claim royalty rights. Until the tech is open source or license-free, I don’t see it gaining traction across the industry.

The Smart Home, is it for better or worse?

Smart Home technologies have great potential for improved comfort, entertainment, safety, savings, and health care, but we must watch out that the tech doesn’t get in the way of our daily lives. One thing I’ve learned in this space is that it’s not always justified. Take the smart thermostat as an example. It can learn daily habits and adjust temperature automatically when you leave for work or go to bed. But if you’re retired or work from home, it can get in the way. How will it know if you’re hot because you just came in from playing pickleball, or if you’re cold because you just ate ice cream? Maybe if it could communicate with a smart watch that measures skin temperature and ambient room temp, but I’m skeptical.

I’ll close this article with a funny look at what might happen if AI runs amuck and developers don’t keep the user experience in mind.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Wayne Caswell is the Founding Editor of Modern Health Talk, an altruistic website and blog with hundreds of published articles on healthcare policy, technologies, and solutions for independent living. It started in March 2011 as a nonprofit effort to share the unique perspectives of a retired IBM technologist, market strategist, digital home consultant, futurist, and consumer advocate.