STACK #209 Mar 2022

LIFE TECH FEATURE

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THE SMART MOVE IS ASSISTED LIVING

Do you feel life ought to be way easier than it is? It can be, if you make a few smart home decisions... Words Adam Mathew

W ith the grind of modern life leeching so much time, any chance to streamline that madness is an avenue worth pursuing. This is where a smartly connected home comes in. Everyone deserves to live within walking distance of either beauty or convenience, if not both, and you can achieve this when your little oasis from the world has been creatively set up with the correct devices. Your not-so-distant

plunge your entire house into darkness or dim everything to the perfect

movie-viewing environment. You could dramatically sweep open every blind you own or even flick on the coffee maker from the toasty warmth of your bed. Secondly, transitioning into a smart home can be a matter of baby steps. Piecemeal installations are the way to go – a smart plug

EVERYTHING ABOUT ECOSYSTEMS OK, so, you've decided to give this a crack. Excuse the pun, but smart move. Step number one is choosing the ecosystem you'll have to control everything. Basically, an ecosystem is a hub that corrals and manages all of your smaller devices. The ones worth mentioning are Amazon Alexa, Google

here, a door sensor there or a few lovely looking multicoloured lightstrips, well, everywhere. Alternatively, you might wish to scale up your operation with security in mind: smart lights, cameras and smart locks, etc. Whatever your goals, the fact is this: the days of paying the wages and call out fees of some jumped-up, IT specialist shyster are

forebears went through an evolutionary change when electricity made affordable domestic automation ubiquitous, making house chores less of a pain as a result. In our recent, roaring 2020s, a larger leap has come in the form of connected home technologies – modestly priced doodads that give Jetsons-like perks. Basically, even if you've got a Flintstones level budget and understanding of technology, acquiring and installing an automated home is both affordable and the stuff of far future fantasy. But what is a smart home and why do you need one? Essentially, we're talking about having a home base that connects to many different devices via an online network. Said devices can include lighting, smart speakers, televisions, window sensors, security systems and even garden irrigation if you have a green thumb that needn't be quite so green all the time. As for why you'd bother with a smart home, think of the convenience – with one stab of your index finger on a smartphone you could

over. If you've got a smartphone and an app, the internet, an imagination, and the ability to follow simple on-screen prompts, you're

all good to go. Honestly, even a tech-phobic could figure out smart devices in 2022.

32 MARCH 2022

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