In the recent past, technology has seen the construction of smart homes gain momentum due to the much-anticipated benefits and efficiency. However, some people have been investing in smart homes without considering some of the challenges that come with it and how to tackle them.
What are the challenges of building a smart home?
Invasion of privacy
Although most property owners are interested in controlling and tracking the activities that happen in their homes, some stop using it after a few days. This is because, according to them, it is hard to keep the privacy of the information about what happens day and night at their remote houses. Although the smart systems can provide comprehensive aspects of most house devices, they worry that the companies that provide the integrated gadgets can access that data and share it with unauthorized people which can infringe their right to privacy. Therefore, the homeowners have argued that technology companies should design devices that assure their privacy and ability to control the information in their houses.
Compatibility
Lack of compatibility has been a challenge and especially to the people who do not know about artificial intelligence and technology. Sometimes people buy a lot of smart gadgets with the hope they assist them to manage their home but during installation, the engineers or technician discover some of them cannot work together. For example, some people say that with smart devices such as security cameras, thermostats, and sensors, some fail to be automatically integrated with ones that are made from different brands. Even if most of them can be connected with smartphones, some apps cannot be joined with others form a different brand which means a person has to log in to different apps to check and regulate what is happening in his/her home. Smart technology customers are looking for a single app that can help in controlling several tasks in a smart home. For example, the Alexa app does not accept instructions that are sent from the Nest. As a result, this forces a property owner to hassle for various apps.
Security
With smart bulbs that are interconnected with technology, they can know when the owner is at a certain location, his daily behaviors, and habits. In a case when an individual spy this specific homeowner by either hacking through hacking systems or stealing data, then the security of the property owner and his property could be in danger which could lead to extensive damages. This all will be resulted by the network leaking information about the presence of a person at home, when he delivers, and when he arrives. So, before investing in home smart security systems, it is vital to understand the safety of the security systems from experts to avoid exposing the home and your life to devastating threats. Moreover, there are some instances when sensors and artificial intelligence cameras have malfunctioned by detecting and providing wrong results. Consequently, innocent people have found themselves in police cells and courts of law because of ineffective devices that provided incorrect data to the authorities. Despite the problem of incompatibility, security vulnerabilities, and privacy invasion, smart technologies have improved the automation of many tasks because of the new technologies that are connected with artificial intelligence. The best way to promote the smooth performance of these gadgets is to purchase devices from brands that can allow the integration with other devices from different companies. Also, homeowners should consider setting automatic updates on their devices as well as setting strong passwords. Last but not least, homeowners must ensure they have control with every information that the smart home provides through a connected network and ensure it cannot be accessed by unauthorized people.
Read also: How to integrate smart home technology in the home business
