Living smart - an average day in my IOT-filled home
Oct ' 21
The internet is part of our lives like never before, younger generations don’t know a time without it and wouldn’t want to either. The web, social media, video streaming, gaming are all a common occurrence in everyday life now, but the next frontier of smart homes is quickly making its way into that repertoire.
BY ALBERT MOSTERT
Albert is our Director of Electronic Platforms and Software, part of the Product Product Management & Engineering Team in APAC.
I’ve always been an early adopter of technology, being a PC enthusiast from a young age and starting my career in IT - so jumping headfirst into smart home was no surprise to anyone.
It started off as a means to turn on lights automatically at night and knowing when the kids made it home safe but quickly escalated into my entire household being connected in one way or another.
The list of connected smart devices I have at home is extensive and while they are not all the same brand, nor do they all use the same base mobile app, they are all brought together by Amazon Alexa™.
Let’s go through an average day in my home and how Alexa has become part of the family.
My wife is woken up by her side table lamp, gradually increasing in brightness until it can’t be ignored. The air-conditioning has already warmed (or cooled in the summer) the house up before sunrise. She begins her day by making coffee by using an already boiled kettle, by this time her side lamp has turned itself off to let me continue to sleep! Alexa forces me to get up by opening our blinds and as I head off to work, I close the front door behind me.
Alexa notes the door is closed via a sensor, locks the Gainsborough Freestyle Trilock smart lock behind me and based on the time of day assumes it’s me heading to work so she opens the garage door as I approach it. On this particular day, I forget to close the garage behind me as I drive away. Via the camera and sensors installed in the garage, Alexa realises my mistake and closes it for me, she also gently messages my phone to remind me to close it next time.
While at work and with no one home, a courier presses our Amazon Ring™ doorbell. My phone lights up with a video of them waiting at the front door, I talk to them through my phone explain no one is home, and I open the garage for them to put the package somewhere safe. All while monitoring them by camera and safely closing the garage once they are done.
Around midday Alexa detects no movement in the home and activates the robot vacuum to do a clean, either allowing it to finish the entire home or asking it to return to it’s dock the moment someone returns home.
Freedom to move. When used with the Gainsborough Freestyle™ Wi-Fi bridge, the lock can be operated from anywhere in the world. Add or remove access to your home or holiday home easily and quickly.
Peace of mind. When used with the optional Wi-Fi and Door Sensor Kit, you will know when your door is closed or has been left open.
My eldest daughter arrives home from school, uses her unique PIN code for the front door and I’m notified she has returned safe through the Gainsborough Freestyle app. Earlier that day, my Gainsborough Freestyle smart lock on my home office door had also notified that our cleaner had entered and exited on schedule. If she had attempted to use her code outside of the allowed schedule, I would have granted her entry using the Gainsborough Freestyle app.
The living room lights turn themselves on as the sun sets and the kids ask Alexa to make their bedrooms “disco” so they can dance to changing RGB lighting. As we draw closer to the end of the night, Alexa fires up the kid’s electric blankets and turns them off as they get into bed. My youngest daughter awakes in the night to go to the bathroom, and Alexa automatically illuminates the correct lighting to the bathroom, turning off the lights behind her as she returns to bed.
By now, I’m sure you understand just how automated our smart home is and there’s many devices I haven’t touched on. Alexa even controls artwork in our home, changing it regularly and only illuminating as people are detected. Our sprinklers in the summer are not on a schedule, they are activated based on moisture content in the soil.
The list goes on.
Many would call out that they don’t need this level of automation, that it’s lazy. That’s fine, it’s not for everyone, people made the same claims about sliced bread once. The great thing about smart home is that it is scalable, there’s no “all or nothing” here. Just need a light to turn on at night? No problem, grab a smart Wi-Fi bulb and you’re done. Like the idea of knowing when your kids are home safe? Pick up a Gainsborough Freestyle Trilock for your front door. How many devices and when you are ready to add them is up to you.
IoT has certainly become a normal part of my kids lives like so many internet-based technologies and we cannot imagine life without it. Although my youngest daughter did recently ask Alexa to change the moon to “warm white”.
Learn more about our Gainsborough Freestyle technology
"...The great thing about smart home is that it is scalable, there’s no “all or nothing” here."
Albert Mostert
Director, Electronic Platforms and Software – Asia Pacific
