Introduction
Smart homes are commonly used by people who seek practicality. This type of technology has plenty of benefits, such as increased control over energy consumption, awareness of what is going on at home in the absence of owners, and restrain of air pollution and temperature. Other important features include control over the electronic gadgets through the united management system, the use of apps like Alexa and Google Assistant for assisted work and daily errand tasks, and better safety and security systems. In some way, smart homes can be interpreted as a symbol of present day technological progress, as it becomes more and more advanced. This paper argues that homes should be equipped with smart home technology for the sake of people’s well-being, good mood, and environmental wellness.
Refutation
- Some critics may disagree, saying that smart homes consume too much energy to be considered environmentally friendly, moreover, since, they are a relatively new device, the aspect of eco-friendliness may be under-researched if not ignored at the moment.
- No less importantly, the informational waste created by the need to constantly manage the smart home can impede the human’s productiveness and cause stress, as one’s life is already burdened with a number of responsibilities.
Body Outline
People’s needs regarding smart home systems change over time whereas the emphasis is gradually moving from security and system accountability to its manageability, which proves the potential of smart home technology’s conceptual expansion; this signifies that some of the necessary solutions that were previously absent will finally be presented to the clients.
Jakobi, T., Stevens, G., Castelli, N., Ogonowski, C., Schaub, F., Vindice, N., & Wulf, V. Evolving needs in IoT control and accountability: A longitudinal study on smart home intelligibility. Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies
Importantly, scholars note that “In the later phases of appropriation, however, consumers’ interaction and information needs shifted towards management by exception on mobile or ambient displays – only focusing on the system when things were ‘going wrong’” (Jakobi et al., 2018, p. 1), which demonstrates the growing trust towards such devices, as the review of the homes became more detailed than it was previously.
Relations, values, and identities became more important for the researchers and smart home users than the energy issues, driving the central concept of ‘smart home technology’ towards a more humanitarian perspective; this in turn may help developers follow a more individualistic approach and gives the opportunity to cater to the clients’ needs.
Gram-Hanssen, K., & Darby, S. J. “Home is where the smart is”? Evaluating smart home research and approaches against the concept of home. Energy Research & Social Science.
For instance, Gram-Hanssen and Darby (2018) acknowledge that in more recent research on a topic “a place for security and control, for activity, for relationships and continuity, and for identity and values” (p. 94), which, essentially demonstrates a need to diversify the qualities of smart homes.
There is other evidence that proves the recent inclination towards the, so to speak, ‘smart home technology ethics’: the ethical issues became decisive in making consumer’s decision, which evidences that smart homes are good not only for people’s safety, but also for their mood, environmental, and mental wellbeing; which signifies extra focus on non-technological aspects of such houses and further improvements on those aspects.
Shuhaiber, A., &Mashal, I. Understanding users’ acceptance of smart homes. Technology in Society.
Shuhaiber and Mashal’s (2019) recent study results “show that trust, awareness, enjoyment, and perceived risks, with perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use significantly influence attitude towards smart homes which, in turn, impact the intention to use smart homes” (p. 101110), which emphasizes the importance of reviewing concerns surrounding these homes.
Conclusion
Given the above, smart homes should become available to a wider population due to their effectiveness in managing peoples’ lives and ensuring their required comfort and wellbeing, which makes them the definition of practicality and sets them apart from past devices due to their multifunctional capabilities.
References
Gram-Hanssen, K., & Darby, S. J. (2018). “Home is where the smart is”? Evaluating smart home research and approaches against the concept of home. Energy Research & Social Science, 37, 94-101.
Jakobi, T., Stevens, G., Castelli, N., Ogonowski, C., Schaub, F., Vindice, N., &Wulf, V. (2018). Evolving needs in IoT control and accountability: A longitudinal study on smart home intelligibility. Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies, 2(4), 1-28.
Shuhaiber, A., & Mashal, I. (2019). Understanding users’ acceptance of smart homes. Technology in Society, 58, p. 101110.