The History of Home Automation

THE HISTORY OF SMART HOMES The idea of home automation isn't a recent concept in anyway but it has been more of a case of technology catching up with the idea. Home automation was a topic of science fiction for many years and in Ray Bradbury's short story "There WilI Come Soft Rains" he wrote about an automated home which continues to work despite no one living in it. The Remote Controls – It all started with the wireless remote control, which was first unveiled by Nikola Tesla in 1898 when he controlled a miniature boat by sending it radio waves Domestic Appliances – The 20th century started with the boom in home appliances such as the engine powered vacuum cleaner in 1901 and the electric powered vacuum 6 years later. Throughout the next two decades was the revolution in home appliances with refrigerators, clothes dryers, washing machines, irons and toasters. But these were expensive and could only be afforded as a luxury for the wealthy. ---- ECHO IV- The idea of home automation was flirted with in the 1930's but it wasn't until 1966 Jim Sutherland developed the first home automation system "Echo IV" which would make a shopping list, control temperate, turn appliances on and off but this was never commercially sold. Kitchen Computer – 1969 saw the Honeywell Kitchen Computer which was a computer that would create recipes, although this had no commercial success due to the price. Microcontroller – The microprocessor came in 1971 and this meant a rapid price fall in electronics, which meant technologies become more accessible to everyone. SMART Smart Home – This term was first coined by the American Association of House builder in 1984. Gerontechnology – Through the 1990's there was a new focus on combining gerontology with technology to help improve the lives of the elderly and less able. Domotics – By the end of the century this term was commonly used to describe how domestic appliances where now being combined with computers and robots. Failure to launch – Despite this development in making this technology more accessible it was still very expensive and lacked any wide spread uptake, and was left for the rich. Integer millennium house - Opened in 1998 this demonstration home in Watford showcased how home automation could be integrated it to a home with heating systems, automatic garden controlling soil, security systems, lights, doors. ..... Start of the tech revolution - Gradually as technology became more affordable, these technologies slowly become integrated in our homes. As these became more popular there was more investment into making them more efficient and cheaper, again making it more accessible. Now - Nowadays home automation is everywhere, and we aren't always aware of it. We can now control our TV's, heating, lights, alarms, doors all via our smart phones and controllers. The future - Our imaginations are our only limitation, with technology 21'C8 215468 333 as advanced as it is today we can make almost anything, mirror with TV and computers in them, smart wardrobes and ovens, Alarmraders Direct http://alarmtradersdirect.co.uk/ Designed by Refləctdigital