We Are Getting Closer to Unified Home Automation
DIY home security and automation are not as new as it may seem. DIY home security systems that act simply as noisemakers have been around for decades. As for home automation, technology manufacturers have been designing and producing equipment since the dawn of the internet. It only seems new these days because more and more people are investing in home automation and security. Technology is making it easier to do.
First-generation home automation equipment pertained mostly to lighting control. There were a small number of thermostat and appliance devices as well, but one inherent problem prevented this first generation technology from catching on – that it was incredibly difficult to set up. We have heard stories of customers purchasing equipment only to abandon it after trying unsuccessfully to get it to work. Thankfully, this is no longer the case.
Modern home automation and security equipment are as easy to use as a smartphone. Communication technologies have improved, the actual hardware is better, and system design is pressing forward at an almost unimaginable rate. Now there is only one more hindrance to overcome – unification. The good news is that we are getting closer than ever before, to overcoming this hurdle.
Companies Vying for Dominance
Customers at the start of their journey to a complete home automation have many options to choose from. They can mix and match various devices from multiple manufacturers based on whatever criteria is important to them. The second option, which we think would make integration easier, is to purchase all of the devices for a single system from a single provider. Uxari is one such provider. The advantage of buying everything from us is that you are guaranteed all your devices will work together. Our home automation systems are scalable as well, so you can add more devices as your needs change.
Having said that, sometimes devices from different manufacturers might not communicate well with one another, limiting the effectiveness and efficiency of a home automation system. That’s what unification is all about. At some point in the future, there will have to be unification between all devices, regardless of manufacturer, if wireless home security and home automation is to be adopted by the masses.
According to industry rumors, there are a number of large companies vying to become the dominant force in unification. Companies like Apple, Samsung, Google, and Amazon too are working on central control units that would be compatible with virtually any piece of home automation hardware. Such a unit would communicate with each piece, translate communications between pieces from different manufacturers, and organize all of those communications before sending information to the user’s smartphone app.
The Day Will Come
Ten years ago, there were plenty of skeptics who said that mass adoption of home automation would never occur because of a lack of unification. But the skeptics also said similar things about worldwide computer networking two decades earlier. Just like the computer and network industries got together and worked out enough standardization to accommodate different ways of communicating, the home automation and security market will do likewise.
The day will come when central control units make it possible to use virtually any device to automate anything in your home. We are already remarkably close to that day. In the meantime, companies like Uxari will be introducing greater numbers of consumers to the world of home automation and DIY security. With wireless technology that is easy to set up and control, we are giving more property owners access to home automation and security features they never thought possible. And as a result, the world is becoming a more secure and efficient place.
