The Home of the Future
We look at the technology that will come in the next-generation of family homes
It’s often said that a man’s home is his castle, and that’s not far from the truth. A home should be a sanctuary from all the stress and pressure of daily life, offering comfort, warmth, relaxation and entertainment. But the ways that homes provide those things are changing, and you may be surprised at just how clever houses are getting. Okay, so the houses themselves aren’t getting clever, but the technology that we’re putting into them is. So let’s take a look at what’s just around the corner – and arriving now – in our search for domestic bliss.
THE SEAT OF POWER
If our homes are our castles, then it follows that our sofas are the thrones. When we want to relax, many of us simply flop down on the sofa and switch on the TV. But what if you could do a lot more from the comfort of your sofa than just watching TV?
It’s now possible to control pretty much everything in the home without having to leave the comfort of the sofa. Home AV and automation installations are no longer just for city workers and Premier League footballers, and with the latest wireless technology, it’s never been easier to control all the technological facets from one place.
You can spend as much money as you want to automate your home, but it doesn’t have to cost the earth. Sonos, for example, has completely revolutionised digital music in the home. In a matter of minutes you can set up a Sonos system that will allow you to listen to a multitude of digital music sources in any number of rooms in your house.
A Sonos system lets you pipe music from any source to anywhere in the house, all via a stylish wireless controller
With a Sonos system you can control all your music, all around your house from a single Sonos remote controller. You can even use an iPhone or iPod Touch as a remote controller simply by downloading the free Sonos app. And if you’re tapping away on your laptop, you can use the Sonos software on that too.
But a system like Sonos is just the tip of the iceberg. If you really want to drag your house into the 21st century, something like Control4 might be the answer. With a Control4 system, not only can you control your music, but you can operate your home cinema, draw the blinds on your windows, dim the lights in your bedroom, change the temperature in your home, or even open your front door – all without ever leaving your sofa.
A system like Control4 isn’t just for couch potatoes, either. Rather than using an alarm clock, you can program the system to open your blinds or slowly bring the lights up in your bedroom when it’s time to wake up. At bedtime, you might configure the system to power down your AV equipment and ensure that all the lights in the house are switched off. And most importantly, you can make sure that the doors and windows are locked without having to physically patrol your home to check.