What role will broadband internet play in the home of the future?
Smart beds that adapt to your body temperature, cars that park themselves, robot vacuums, smart windows that react to light or project a scene of your choice. All are visions of the future of our homes and all not as science fiction as you might think. One common thread linking all of these innovations is that they will all require a broadband internet connection to reach their full potential.
The majority of futurists and architects consider the future of housing to be smart. An intelligent house constructed of low impact materials full of smart devices to make our lives easier and more comfortable. We have seen the beginning of this with the introduction of smart meters and the Internet of Things and more innovations are on their way.
One thing many visions of the future home have in common is machine intelligence. Devices that are programmed to respond to us and provide us with what we need when we need it. One of the main ingredients to make them smart is connectivity.
Click here to see Rightmove’s Home of the Future.
Connected homes
We already consider internet connectivity to be a basic human right. We already consider it more important than off-road parking or proximity to local shops. It can also add up to 5% to the value of a property. But what of the future?
You don’t have to look too far ahead to see that broadband internet is going to become even more valuable than it is now. Your home of the future could have all the intelligence in the world but if it cannot communicate with you or other devices, it isn’t so smart. Wi-Fi will be the key to the home of the future as many smart appliances will use it to talk to you and each other.
The foundation of a good Wi-Fi network is a good broadband connection.
Connected devices
Future appliances will be internet enabled. Refrigerators will be able to assess what groceries you’re running low on and order them for delivery. Meters will communicate back to the energy company to let them know exactly how much power you use and when. Television will be streamed and projected onto any surface. Those are just three of the hundreds of functions smart devices will offer us in the next couple of years.
All of them will require a fast, reliable broadband connection to reach their full potential.
Even devices that can be controlled by a smartphone will require broadband. They need Wi-Fi for the local network and a broadband link to the internet and to your mobile provider to complete the connection. So even if on the surface, broadband doesn’t seem to play a part in the home of the future, it is at the centre of everything.
So what role will broadband internet play in the home of the future? A central one, second only to the energy required to run those devices that make your home smart. If you thought your internet connection was important now, imagine how you are going to consider it when both you and your home depend on it to get things done!
Jamie Kavanagh is writing on behalf of broadband comparison site Broadband Genie; you can find out more about broadband at www.broadbandgenie.co.uk.
