ALEXA—LET THERE BE LIGHT!

Smart lighting can be connected wirelessly with your phone, tablet, or smart assistants like Apple’s Siri, Google Assistant or Amazon’s Alexa. In addition to making provisions for mood lighting, the future is moving towards devices powered with AI which are also emotionally intuitive.

- Vishal Singh

Merely a decade and a half ago, the idea of being able to control your home’s lighting, temperature and security remotely from a mobile phone would have seemed like something out of a science fiction film. The idea of giving your home commands with your voice would have sounded like a comic-book fantasy, only possibly enjoyed by future generations who would also be driven to work every day in self-driving cars. Smart homes are a concept that society has dreamt about for decades–with visionaries even launching mystical prototypes over the years that would end up being the augury of what we use today.

What seemed so unrealistic is now a reality–with tech industry pundits calling 2020 the beginning of the ‘Age of Automation’. It is now normal for people we know to unlock their front doors, control the air conditioning, and arm their security systems through smartphones. Construction costs are rising, sizes of urban residences are becoming smaller and space optimization is the need of the hour. At the same time, technology is now more affordable, connectivity for all devices at home and in turn convergence to mobile technology or smartphones is the latest trend. The automation industry is now evolving to serve holistic requirements with the integration of lighting, HVAC, audio/video, security and entertainment.