Smart home tech that promises beautiful home aesthetics as well as improved home function and health is coming.
Sara Nabil, PhD candidate at Newcastle University, has been working with the Open Lab and NORTH Lab teams "to create new types of interactive living objects that can be used in interior designs." Writing for The Conversation, republished by Fast Company, she explains, "We use thermochromic fabric which changes color, SMA wires which move and crumple, and e-textiles for seamless sensing."
Many homes are already smart. Research from Statista predicts that by the end of 2019, more than 45 million smart home devices will be installed in U.S. homes, and analysts predict that the smart home devices industry will reach $107.4 billion by 2023 globally. One in four people in Britain own one or more smart home devices, such as smart speakers, thermostats and smart security, and the UK government has begun investing money in teaching elderly and disabled people how to use smart tech in their homes.
Related Stories
Innovation
First 3D-Printed Building Facade Coming to Tennessee
A Chattanooga-based credit union will feature the “world’s first” 3D-printed building facade on its newest branch. The facade comes from 3D-…
Off-Site Construction
How Katerra is Building the Future
On today’s installment of The Weekly, Janet Stephenson from building technology company Katerra talks to Pro Builder about the company’s vision to…
Energy Efficiency
This Prefab Modular Facade Promises to Cut Energy Usage in Half
Buildings have a larger carbon footprint than the entire transportation sector and a new prefab, modular facade aims to help with that, says Fast…
