At this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas today, one of the growing trends among the companies exhibiting at the giant industry gathering is the so-called smart home. An explosion of gadgets aims to take objects around the home, add processors and sensors to them, and connect them to the Internet.
Listening to some of the people hawking smart home technologies, you'd think we're all a bit paranoid.
"We have room motion sensors that will sit up on the corner ... it's infrared so it detects heat signatures" to differentiate between pets and potential intruders, says Leah Polk, with computer accessories company Belkin. Sensors can even be added to people, she says.
"We also have a keychain sensor, which is designed to sit on your keychain, or on your kid's backpack or on your pet's collar that can tell you if they've come or gone," Polk says.
Alarm.com strives to be the Apple of this sensor-filled world. Jay Kenny says his company can provide the platform to make everything work together.
"When the security system is disarmed, the lights can turn on, the thermostat can adjust, the garage door can close. All these things happen automatically as if they are one organism," Kenny says.
Shawn DuBravac, a senior economist with the Consumer Electronics Association, says that connecting more everyday objects to the Internet is definitely a trend.
Transcript:
Consumer Electronics Show: Meet the smart home
KR: This is Marketplace from APM. I'm Kai Ryssdal. A lot of what you would see were you in Las Vegas for their Consumer Electronics Show this week would be of, or related to, what has come to be called the "smart home." There are more gizmos than ever this year. They aim to take objects around the house and get them online. From Las Vegas, Nova Safo has more.
NS: Listen to some of the people hawking smart home technologies at CES and you'd think we're all kind of paranoid.
LP: We have a room motion sensor that will sit up in the corner and it's infrared so it detects heat signatures…
NS: to differentiate between pets and potential intruders. And that by the way is Leah Polk, with the computer accessories company, Belkin. She says you can even add sensors to people.
LP: We also have a keychain sensor which is designed to sit on your keychain or in your kid's backpack or on your pet's collar that can tell you if they've come or gone.
NS: Once you've put sensors throughout your home and on your family, Alarm.com wants to be the Apple of this sensorized world. Jay Kenny says his company can be the platform to make everything work together.
JK: The security system is disarmed, the lights can turn on, the thermostat can adjust, the garage door can close. All these things happen automatically as if theyre all one sort of organism.
NS: Now, this sounds a little far off to me, but the tech companies here at CES insist it's in the near future. Sean DuBravac is a senior economist with the Consumer Electronics Association.
SD: We're at an inflection point where these emerging categories are defining what the growth profile looks like in the years to come.
NS: DuBravac says whether that's two years or ten depends on how easy the latest gadgets are for the average consume to adopt. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, I'm Nova Safo for Marketplace.