Smart home basics and trends

In the first place, smart home is a concept proposed in the United States in the 1980s.In Japan, the tron -brain housing became a hot topic in the 1990s, and the home automation boom arrived.Around 2010, the initiatives of smart grids in the United States were attracting attention.

The spread of smartphones worldwide has led to a device connected to a smartphone, expanding the market with the arrival of a global IoT boom.

After that, in 2014, the voice response engine Amazon Echo was released in the United States, and NEST, which handles thermostat and home camera solutions, has been acquired by Google, and features as a "hub" of the house.Smart home solutions, which were assumed to be connected to smartphones and assuming connections with home gateway, have now been interconnected around the hub.

Around 2018, an unprecedented AI boom occurred, and a lot of wise devices equipped with AI appeared on smart home devices.The evolution of smart homes is not limited to home Naka, but it is now in cooperation with external services, and in a phase that finds new value in cooperation with other digital trends such as "Smart City" and "MaaS".It can be said that there is.

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Concept of smart home

The figure above shows the concept of smart home.

Electricity transmitted from the power plant comes home.In recent houses, power supply is used not only for electricity transmitted but also for solar power generation.

Furthermore, when EVs (electric vehicles) become widespread, it is possible that the power accumulated in the battery in the EV will be used as the electricity of the house in an emergency such as an earthquake.

"HEMS" is the one that comprehensively visualizes and manages the power obtained from the three directions and the power used by home naka home appliances.

HEMS (Home Energy Management System Home Energy Management System)

HEMS is a matter of visualizing and controlling electricity and gas used by monitor, etc., without appliances, electric vehicles (EVs), and solar power generation with the electrical equipment of the house naka.。

In addition, smart meters play a role in conveying the power consumption in the home to the power company.

The government aims to set up HEMS in all houses by 2030.

Smart home appliances

Smart home appliances include AI air conditioners, AI cleaning robots, AI refrigerators, AI speakers, smart bulbs, smart plugs, and smart locks.

Different from general home appliances, it is an intelligent or connected to the Internet or AI speakers, and works in cooperation with other home appliances.

Due to the appearance of various smart home appliances, housing manufacturers have been preparing facilities imagined from the beginning of smart home.

Cooperation with external service operators

In addition, various sensors and cameras, such as smart home appliances and temperature and humidity installed in home naka, monitor the state of the family naka and connect to various third -paddy services and SaaS via the Internet through home gateway.It is collaborated with services such as "watching", "health care", "home security", and "home delivery".

In other words, it can be said that a new "ecosystem" created by various players, as well as the technology aspects of simple devices evolution.

Value evolution of smart home

Looking back on the history of smart home, you can see that there are three stages.In the figure below, the yellow part is related to smart devices, and the green part is about energy.

Phase 1: Visualization, remote control

The first stage is the stage of "visualization, remote control".

At this time, the smart home was often enough for the device alone to connect to the smartphone.A typical device is a light called Hue in Philips.

Hue can connect to a smartphone and change the light color from the management app.The connection was also connected by Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE).

At this time, various devices can be visualized and remotely controlled by connecting to a smartphone.

Manufacturers have no need to install applications for device control on hardware and remote controls, so cost reductions are expected, and "Connected Device" has appeared at once.

On the other hand, with regard to energy, the power supply status and usage status could be visualized by HEMS, and it was possible to respond only by looking at it and saving power on its own.

Phase 2: IoT inter -device cooperation

Later, the device was created in which a device that connects smart speakers like Amazon Echo or a network to home gateway, and integrates connected devices in integrated devices.。

However, simply using the latest digital technology makes it difficult to appeal to the benefits of the consumers, and the flow of "anything voice response" and "AI for anything" ends in a short period of time and is used in necessary parts.It became a flow.

The AI boom that emits the machine learning boom has been promoting the intelligent of the device.

As a result, V2H (VEHICLE TO (VEHICLE TO), which effectively utilizes a watch service for children and the elderly using IoT devices, some autonomy of shopping that allows you to purchase things with smart speakers, and use electricity stored in electric vehicles for home use.Home), such as the control of a single device, has appeared to help users' lives.

Regarding energy controls, services have appeared to keep the temperature and humidity appropriate by sensing living behavior and judging the residence status.

Furthermore, multiple integrated devices such as intelligent devices will create further value.

For example, there are services in which multiple devices such as knowing the status of home with a camera or smart lock and moving air conditioning at home.

Smart Home will not only evolve such individual devices, but also the device will be sensitive to the situation in a complex way, which will read "what people want next" to provide new products and services.The business will expand.

Perhaps because of this momentum, various players have entered smart home -related markets, as shown above.

Phase 3: To solve social issues

In 2013, Amazon obtained a patent for "predictive shipment" to predict shopping products and deliver to the house before purchasing products on the site.After that, the prediction delivery was not yet implemented in Japan, but in 2021, we started a service that automatically predicted and delivered the day and time, which is likely to be at home, using past data.

As a result, in addition to the convenience of consumers, which increases the probability of receiving luggage, reducing redelivery will reduce the burden on the logistics industry and reduce CO2.

If you try to automate this far, it is natural that it is naturally past data or sensing in the current house naka situation.

Regarding data, if you upload the data acquired by various devices to the cloud, data linkage between clouds can be used at a level that can no longer be said.

It is said that the evolution of robotics also solves the last one -mile problem of logistics, but the problem of how to receive it when a delivery robot is available.

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This shows that even if you try to automate a robot delivery in order to solve social problems, such as a shortage of human resources, the house is not optimized for robot delivery.。And you can see this one -handed situation here.

While smart home is not limited to home naka, it can be imagined to create a great value by collaborating with various services outside the house, but the development of physical and social infrastructure, such as buildings, roads, and laws.There are many elements that require, and it can be said that the appearance of a smart home that solves social issues will take some time.

However, the possibility is large, and experiments and practical use have already begun in various forms.

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Introducing initiatives to review the business process of rental apartment contracts digitally.

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Future of Smart Home

Currently, efforts to solve social problems and to make our lives more comfortable with advanced technology, but on the other hand, the competitive axis has been moved from "advanced devices" to "needs of needs". ing.

In these situations, it is important to lead to new services and products by creating an environment that allows you to “consolidate, share, and analyze” the real data of device services between other companies and different industries in the same industry. Become.

In the future, it is expected that solutions that will collect data that can be collected from smart homes will increase, and solve social issues, such as declining birthrate and aging, work style reform, recall countermeasures, and home appliances recycling.

"DX Trend Commentary" and "DX Practice Course" are a corner where the consultant of RG Gean Co., Ltd., which is the operating body of IOTNEWS, conveys his experience and knowledge.

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