The impact of the Internet of Things (IoT) on smart homes

Abstract

The Internet of Things, as an emerging technology is expected to have a wide impact on the large industries in the next few years. At present, one of the industries which have been mostly affected by this technology is the smart home industry. This study investigates what kind of impact is created when the Internet of Things is present in smart homes. Interviews and questionnaires were used as research tools and a small experiment was even conducted as a prove of concept to show in practice what are the effects of IoT when configured in automated homes. Seven interviews were conducted in total and the questionnaire was sent out over Facebook groups. The findings from all three resources all implicated that the Internet of Things creates a large and positive effect on smart homes as they provide convenience to users, youngsters find it fun and simple to use, saves time, reduces costs and lastly it helps to save energy. A large effect means that IoT plays a big role for the provision of these advantages, but as found through the experiment, these appliances do not fully depend on the IoT network as they can also operate manually. Nevertheless, by operating the appliance manually, the user will not experience all the luxuries the IoT would give, but just the basic functions. However, in the case that there is no Internet connection in the home, having a manual system as a backup would be quite useful as the appliances would still function in the traditional way . In the scenario that there is no lighting, security devices such as alarms would still keep on taking footages, even though the user will not be able to control them. For this reason, none of the residents will be put in danger if an intruder comes. On the other hand, the benefits explained above can only be acquired if the appliances which are internet – enabled are fully secure, otherwise there is a huge risk that they will become compromised, making them extremely vulnerable. It is the responsibility of the individual to make themselves aware of such dangers so as to protect their devices and minimise these risks by conducting research on the product. If it is found that the product is exposed to few attacks therefore the user purchases it, then the next step would be to secure it by a password and updating it regularly. Excluding the problems of security and privacy, the fact that this technology gives a wide range of advantages suggests that it would be worth to purchase a smart home. Also, not a lot of technology is needed to set it up. Lastly, current research shows that as smart homes per se, they provide a lot of benefits and in the future they will provide more features, especially for the elderly and disabled people. What is extremely interesting is that they will work not on controls given by the residents, however, they will work by monitoring their activities and their interaction with other devices and function based on their behaviors. The researcher’s assumption is that if the network notices that the resident does his or her laundry every Monday morning at 8, then at that day and time, the washing machine will prepare the cycle automatically without any controls from the user. Presently, some appliances in the home already work using this concept where it studies what is happening around the home, for instance a fire has started, so it switches on the smoke detector automatically. Even though these homes are still at their infancy, one can already tell that in the future they will become a mainstream technology. Who is making use of a smart home today finds it as a luxury because with one click on the smartphone or through speech, anything can be done automatically, but it is very likely that in the future, this luxury will become a necessity.