Amazon Echo, Apple’s Siri, Google Now and Microsoft Cortana spearhead a robotic future

Appliances will soon force you to be part of the internet of things. But will they be too complex for their own good?

3D render of robot decorating with wallpaper in house Image: iStock

“Alexa, add sushi and caviar to my shopping list,” I say to my home robot. “Turn the lights on in the bedroom, then read me my schedule today.” Hopefully that’s me in the future, feet up, and ordering a robot around.

Getting your first home robot may be a defining moment in the connected home revolution, which is about to explode. Our $289 million connected home market is set to surge to be worth ­$3.2 billion by 2019, according to technology research firm Telsyte. The figure underlines the massive scale of the home internet revolution and the promise of an “internet of things”, an emerging network of appliances interconnected to the web and each other.

Compare this with 1996, when just 5 per cent of our homes ­accessed the internet and download speed via a dial-up connection typically was 28 kilobits per second. That’s 1/178 of the speed of a typical 5 megabit per second connection today. Pioneering users could tie up their home phone line for days to download a single film.

Soon home robots will descend on us. The US already has Amazon Echo, a speaker-like device that sits in the corner and works just like your phone’s personal assistant: Apple’s Siri, Google Now or Microsoft Cortana. The technology is here.

Telsyte’s survey found that on average our households have nine internet-connected devices. Computers and smartphones making up about half, the rest media tablets, games consoles, smart TVs, toys and smart appliances.

But in just four years those nine connected devices rapidly will multiply into 29, as connectivity is built into everything from fridges and kettles to airconditioners — and the era of the internet of things blossoms.

For some people, though, the benefit of home automation is hard to envisage. “Those who are really interested in technology gravitate towards the cool things they’ll be able to do, and there’s people who are thinking about decreasing the negatives, saving money and making things easier to do,” says Caroline Morgan, head of insights and innovation at Samsung Australia.

In home entertainment, we are increasingly streaming TV and films to phones, tablets and home computers. While the lounge TV or home theatre is an entertainment hub, family members in different rooms can watch different programs and indulge in gaming at the same time.

Then there is cleaning and other household chores. Samsung’s, Australians@HOME study, which sampled 1000 people, says one-third of Australians expect technology to make household chores easier. Australians already spend an average of 12.35 hours a week on housework, the company says robot vacuum cleaners and connected laundries could save four hours per week.

The fact I can scan my fridge for items I am running out of and tell Alexa, Amazon Echo’s resident robot, my shopping list in dribs and drabs, then arrive at the supermarket with the weekly shopping list compiled on my phone courtesy of Alexa, is appealing.

So is Microsoft’s cheery virtual cook, who pops up and talks you through every step of a recipe from the big screen in front of you. Yet to reach these shores, it was on display at Microsoft’s headquarters in Seattle.

But some items served up in the connected home generate more work. Turning on lights using a phone may seem clever, but by the time you’ve unlocked the phone, swiped to the relevant app, fired up that app and pressed the “turn on light” button, you could have already switched it off at the wall. And burn some calories doing so.

Until now, home automation has appealed to geeks and early adopters, but it is becoming mainstream. Offerings will have to be demonstrably useful. So what are the trends?

First, you’ll be conscripted into home automation, whether you want it or not. Electronics giant Samsung says by 2020 all its devices will be internet enabled.

Whenever you buy an airconditioner, heater, fridge, washing machine, light fitting or globe, or even install power outlets, they will have built-in ­internet connectivity by ­default. It could be Wi-Fi or ZigBee, a wireless standard for the Internet of Things.

Second, the connected home will be most apparent in ways that can genuinely help the consumer. Monitoring health, smart hot water systems, multi-room media streaming, home security and reducing household chores are the main areas.

Energy monitoring and, in particular, climate control are key, says Telsyte managing director Foad Fadaghi. “Energy savings, cost savings and green motivation are the driver,” he says.

“Wi-Fi air conditioners are well suited to being connected and easily understood.”

These and other appliances can connect to thermostats such as Nest, Ecobee, Honeywell’s Lyric and Zen.

These intelligent thermostats can keep rooms at your predefined temperature, switch appliances off and on as you leave and enter, and let you adjust the temperature from across the internet when, say, you’re heading home.

Some have learning functions and can guess temperature settings, based on home preferences and weather conditions.

Going forward, they will take into account different power tariffs when they seek to maximise savings.

An allied area is programming your home energy requirements. You might not want to switch a light on with a smartphone every time you enter a room, but you might be interested in programming what lights and heating/cooling appliances operate when you leave home, come back, go on holidays, watch home theatre, or get up in the middle of the night.

Set and forget will be key.

Following its acquisition of SmartThings last year, Samsung is selling a SmartThings Hub in the US and Britain; the device is ­expected here next year.

The hub lets users manage home devices. Using common wireless protocols ZigBee and Z-Wave, users can control smart lighting, sensors, and a new breed of internet-connected door locks. To broaden its appeal, the hub connects to non-Samsung devices.

LG has the HomNet system, and several devices are available in Australia that connect to Apple’s long-awaited HomeKit.

Google, which owns Nest, has announced an operating system called Brillio to handle communications ­between its connected ­devices.

Fadaghi says a key benefit of a connected home will be the ability to program set events.

But the ­future success depends entirely on software making it easy for ­consumers to set up their desired scenarios.

Manufacturers will have to convince the public that the extra costs and effort on their part will really deliver benefits.

If the public deem systems too complicated to set up and regard the software is an obstacle, we will relegate the connected home to the too-hard basket where it will lie idle, unused and unloved.