This year,
the year that Marty McFly crash lands into in Back to the Future Part II, holds
a lot of water for technologists, since it gave the world a peek at
then-fictional innovations like food hydrators, indoor gardens, and video
calling. And while some of those home innovation ideas have actually come to
pass (hydrators, you have to Oct. 21 until Marty’s flux capacitor shorts out!)
these six inventions—currently exhibiting at the International CES in Las
Vegas—are ready to bring the future to your door, right now. For more on the
smarter, more connected to home innovation ideas of the future, check out
Time’s cover package.
ADT Pulse:
Even though
CES is packed with tech titans showing off their latest wares, entrenched
services like cable and home security systems are often the target of upstart
technologies at the event. This year, ADT strikes back with a setup that
connects a wide range of sensors together through an intuitive smart phone app.
Powered by IFTTT, a wide-ranging web service that already links everything from
the Android operating system to Yahoo Fantasy Football (with other technologies
ranging from Drop box to text messaging to weather alerts in between), the
company’s Pulse app gives ADT home security subscribers the ability to turn on
lights, monitor for carbon monoxide, arm alarms, and even control the heating,
with their voice, alone. And with voice passwords, the app itself is locked
down as tight as the home’s security system.
Budgee:
Move over,
Rosie, here comes something better. Alright, maybe this robot, built by Five
Elements Robotics, can’t eclipse the Jetson’s legendary robo-maid, but it can
serve as an able assistant, carrying up to 50 pounds indoors and out, over
sidewalks and up ramps—basically most places you go. Designed to follow a
transmitter that the owner (or is it master?) wears, the $1,399 droid can zip
along up to 2.4 miles per hour. With a battery life of up to 10 hours, he can
run about as long as most people, and when not needed, he can be folded up for
easy storage—only weighing about 20 pounds and able to fit into the trunk of a
car. When was the last time you stuffed your assistant in the trunk of your
car? (Actually, don’t answer that.)
Dacor:
What’s
better than one wall oven? If you said a wall oven with the Android operating
system baked into it, you’re right. (But “two wall ovens” would also be
acceptable.) Sporting solo and dual doors, Decor’s Discovery convection ovens
are Wi-Fi connected and have a graphic user interface to get your brownies
baking like no other. With a Samsung one gigahertz processor and 512 megabytes
of RAM, this setup isn’t just tech for tech’s sake. It’s designed to power the
Discovery IQ cooking app, which guides users through all sorts of dishes and
family recipes. And with the ability to download from Google Play store,
there’s many more apps—and appetizers, I hope—to come.
Invoxia Triby:
Finally,
some gear the whole family can enjoy. A kitchen communication appliance, Triby
is first and foremost a Bluetooth speaker, able to take calls and stream music
from your smart phone. But the magnetic-backed, rubber-edged device takes utility
a step further by linking two a pair of phones (Mom’s and Dad’s, perhaps) via
the Triby app, so people can call them at the push of a button. The app also
lets mobile users send hand written notes back to Triby, displaying them on the
Wi-Fi connected device’s e-Ink display. And in addition to being able to play
FM radio signals, the fridge phone also has a pair of “radio” buttons that lets
users pre-program their favorite streaming radio stations. Toss in a battery
that lasts a month and a $199 price tag, and you’ve got some smart tech,
indeed.
Netamo Welcome:
Some people
are put off by web security cameras in the home innovation ideas,
but with a facial recognition feature that can identify the members of your
household, Netatmo Welcome does something truly helpful. Notifying smartphone
users when family members arrive home, this HD, night vision-capable camera is
a must-have for connected latch key kids. And, paired with Netatmo Tags, the
system can alert you when doors, windows, mailboxes or even drawers are opened.
But perhaps the smartest thing about this camera is that it can store data on
an onboard SD card, keeping your video recordings off the internet (and free
from subscription services).
Samsung Smart Things
Named as one
of Time’s Best Gadgets of 2014, Smart Things is not content to rest on its
laurels, rolling out new hardware and premium services that may make it the cleverest
smart home setup, yet. Available in the summer, a new Smart Things hub will
sport a better processor and backup battery power, making this a connected home
system that stays in sync even when the power is out. In addition, the
company’s motion and multi-sensors are slimming down, providing more subtle for
home innovation ideas monitoring. But the smart home is all about being inter
compatible with other products and services, something this system does better
than anyone. For instance, the Smart Things hub will now play nice with
everything from August locks to Racchio’s lawn irrigation controller. Beat
that, McFly!
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