The evolution of smart homes & what to expect next

Today’s home is being radically transformed by technology and smart devices. With homeowners taking control of their homes’ smart systems via a combination of dash buttons, voice activation and other technologies, Forbes.com looked at some of the Technology Council’s predictions on how smart homes are set to evolve.

Tidier homes:

With information now being stored in devices rather than in filing cabinets and drawers, we can expect homes of the future to be much less cluttered. Indeed, some homeowners may even decide to buy much smaller properties due to this trend, said Chalmers Brown of Due.

Smartphones as the central hub:

The smartphone is set to become the central hub that manages all elements of a smart home, said Arash Asli of Yocale. Homeowners of the future will use their devices to manage everything from appliances to lights, cooling and heating, security and more.

Voice-activated everything:

Human voice will drive smart home technology as much as smartphones do, said Leon Hounshell of Greenwave Systems. In the next five to ten years, almost everything in the home will be able to be activated via voice control, making smart homes much less complex and therefore a lot more commonplace.

Control panels will disappear:

Due to the rise of smartphones and voice activation, we will likely see the demise of control panels such as electronic dials on washing machines, thermostats and even light switches, said Andrew Kucheriavy of Intecnic.