We all dream of living in the future and to have our own personal J.A.R.V.I.S. that can let us control our surroundings with a voice command or the touch of a button. Luckily, we aren’t too far from those days. Technology for the home is one of the latest tech trends that is slowly on the rise with the introduction of smarter phones and better integrated tech into our everyday lives. There are several different technologies that are upgrading your home to make it seem like you are in the future. Here are some of them.
Window Blinds
Yes, there are window blinds that you can control remotely and even create schedules for so that they can adjust at certain times of day. While some may say these are superfluous, it is still a pretty sweet indication that we are approaching the future fast. If you are interested, Bali blinds (baliblinds.com) and Serena (serenashades.com) have sets for under $400.
Thermostats
Nest is one of the more popular brands in remotely controlled thermostats, due to its ability for the user to program and adjust temperatures remotely from a smartphone or computer. If you are on vacation and want to save money on the AC, you can power off the unit and before your arrival to your house, you can power it back and your house would be at the same level of comfort as before. Prices start at around $250, check nest.com for more details.
Ceiling Fan
How many times have you gotten into bed and realized that the fan is off and then the only way to turn it on for the night is to get out of the covers and walk 14 miles to the switch to turn it on. Or has anyone been frozen to death in the middle of the night and needed to turn off the fan, but too hesitant of leaving the warmth of your blanket? I’ve been there almost every night. Luckily now there are ceiling fans that can be programmed to be controlled by your smartphone by companies like Leviton.com who price these installations at around $169.
Plants?
Yes, even your living natural potted plants can be advanced by technology. One item, appropriately called the Smartpot (no not an app for weed), can actually take care of your plants for about a month. All you have to do is insert water and nutrients into a chamber once and it does the rest of the work for you. This will ring you up around $80. An additional product is the Parrot Flower Power sensor that can actually monitor what your plant is lacking or needing in order to be fully vibrant. For $60 you can never have to guess why your plants keep dying over and over again.
Robot Assistant
Nope, not a joke. This little guy, currently still in production, is called the Jibo (www.jibo.com), and he is a stationary robot assistant that can recognize faces, send messages, schedule appointments and reminders, and take pictures and video. It’s like an R2D2 for your house. Starts at around $600.
So which of these are you most excited about? Leave your thoughts and be sure to stay tuned for more tech stuff.
