STILL conneXXt Nr. 01 English

16 It’s Friday and you’ve made it through yet another long working week. In an ideal world you just want to kick back and relax. Unfortunately, the fridge is empty, your flowers are wilting and looking sorry for themselves, and the washing is piling up in the bathroom. OK, so, what do you tackle first? How fantastic would it be right now if everything could just take care of itself? How about if the fridge could automatically refill itself as soon as the last product was taken, if plants watered themselves and if the washing machine could just switch itself on? Imagine your favourite TV channel switched on ready for when you get home with the lights dimmed and the room at the perfect temperature for you to relax. The future is now Is this just the fantasy of a stressed-out employee? Absolutely not! What at first has all the hallmarks of an idyllic vision of the future actually already found its way into the modern home some time ago. This trend is referred to as the “smart home” and it’s where all of the different areas within a house or apartment are networked and automated using the latest technology. The smart home lends its occupants a hand and supports them in day-to-day tasks, working quietly away in the back- ground. Whether it’s controlling the room temperature by automatically switching the heating on and off, opening and closing the blinds depend- ing on how sunny it is outside or switching on the lights when somebody enters the room, the smart home is geared towards enhancing your com- fort of living, improving energy efficiency and providing greater security. Smart homes are controlled centrally using devices such as smartphones, tablets and even computers. With the use of specially designed apps, the networked devices can be operated manually or set up in such a way that you give your smart home part of the responsibility for deciding what to do. It could decide, for example, where light is needed, which rooms should be aired or what the ideal temperature for the bathroom is. And if the forecast is for rain, it will close all the windows. If the smart home comes across an error, it will either find a solution itself or notify Really, really smart YOUR OWN FOUR WALLS ARE INTELLIGENT – that is, if you’re the owner of what is known as a smart home system.Thanks to the latest technology, such systems enable devices to communicate with each other and to complete everyday chores automatically.Not only does this offer a more comfortable lifestyle at home, it also means fewer orders for your pizza delivery service. The smart home’s control centre: the smartphone. TRENDS & TECHNOLOGY

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