Analyze the six common problems in mainstream smart home hardware

Internet of things and smart home are the hottest new technologies nowadays. The core idea is to allow all home appliances and household products to access the Internet, use smart phones to control, combine multiple sensors and big data, and gain more intelligent use. Experience.

However, due to the stage of development, everyone is basically groping forward. Most of the products have no deeper intelligent experience than adding WIFI functions and remote control. Even there are some problems with the cart before the horse, safety and practicality. So, if you want to enter the field of smart home now, what do you need to pay attention to? Below, we'll come up with a few questions about mainstream smart home products. At least you need to reduce your psychological expectations and fully understand before deciding whether to purchase.

First, just remote control is enough?

One of the key points of smart homes is the Internet, but just building a WIFI chip in a home appliance and realizing the remote control of the mobile phone are actually not really "smart". Some intelligent washing machines, dryers, for example, can be remotely washed by the mobile app, but don't forget: To get laundry, you have to put clothes from the hamper into the washing machine. Obviously, most people don't have a robot at home. So, if you can already put clothes into the washing machine, why not directly operate it on the operation panel? Similarly, using a mobile phone to remotely control a slow cooker seems to be just a gimmick.

Obviously, integrating the Internet is a basic trend of intelligence, but how to make good use of the Internet and make products more intelligent is more reasonable. For washing machines, cooking utensils and other types of products, the development focus should be focused on the evolution of their own vertical functions, unless they evolved into fully automatic robots, otherwise what "remote laundry", "remote cooking" such selling points are all too flashy, Users do not need to spend more on these functions at all.

Second, the control of the cart before the inverted smart light bulb is a very interesting smart home products, but also the starting point for many families. The original intention of the manufacturer is also very easy to understand: using a mobile phone to control the light switch, in addition to achieve color, and even with the sound system and other products to achieve linkage operation.

However, such a variety of functions depends entirely on the application of mobile phones and tablets. In other words, in addition to switching lights and other application forms, you must complete them through electronic devices, which brings a series of new problems. : If your phone is not around, look for it and control it. If the phone is dead, charge it first.

Perhaps the manufacturer realized that such a user experience was not "smart" per se, so Philips and Belkin introduced an additional smart light bulb wireless remote controller to solve this problem. However, this not only means that there is an additional remote control in your home. You also need to spend a few hundred dollars to buy it. Know that smart light bulbs are already very expensive. As such, smart light bulbs have not quickly spread to families. As for the solution, we believe that independent voice control may be a better solution, but due to the cost and technical relationship, there are very few products as a concept.

Third, the form is greater than the actual effect Many do not like to do housework friends have such a dream: a versatile cleaning robot that can help you complete all housework, and the cleaning effect is excellent, the ground is clean, all the furniture a new look. But at the moment, such caring robot butlers may only exist in Japanese animation or sci-fi movies. If you place your hopes on various sweeping robots, you will be disappointed.

In fact, no matter how expensive the sweeping robot is, the sweeping ability is relatively limited, and it is even worse than holding a hand-held vacuum cleaner. Although they use built-in sensors to identify obstacles and cross obstacles, the home environment is usually more complicated. Even though they can avoid a coffee table, they may not be able to identify every obstacle effectively, let alone help you sweep every corner. clean. If you have a large living area or even a penthouse structure, you may end up trying to get the sweeping robots to work effectively. It's far better to work on your own or to choose a clean sweep.

Fourth, PM 2.5, which has no place for data, has made us realize how bad the air is, and everyone is paying more attention to air quality. In addition to the air purifiers, smart monitors and personal weather stations that are independent of the air purifiers have also emerged in a scenario that aims to give you more accurate indoor air quality and weather data.

This concept is actually quite good. After all, we like personal data and it is always more accurate than a large range. But the question also followed: After obtaining the data? Obviously, just knowing that the current air is bad, if there is no air purifier, it will be in vain. Of course, some products still have API interfaces open, which can be automatically operated in conjunction with temperature control devices and air purifiers, but the number is still small.

Therefore, we believe that the independent air quality inspection is actually of little significance, so it may be necessary to integrate it directly into the air purifier. If you are very interested in such products, you should also know before the purchase whether the product will combine data with automated operations in addition to providing data monitoring.

Fifth, security issues The main security of the Internet surveillance camera is also a product that many users are interested in. Compared to previous cameras on PCs, they can work independently on WIFI networks and access real-time images via mobile phones, tablets, or PCs. The built-in motion, facial recognition, and sound monitoring functions are also sent to the user's mobile phone when an abnormality is detected. Notification messages to achieve a safer home living environment.

But have you ever thought that security cameras themselves are full of security risks? Previously, a hacker in the United States succeeded in breaking into a baby safety camera in a family and insulted the baby (built-in duplex microphone in the camera), which caused a great social repercussions. Just like in the famous video game "Watchdog", as long as your device is connected to the Internet, there are hidden dangers of being attacked and intruded, especially if the manufacturer does not update the firmware and block the vulnerability according to the network security environment.

The same example also exists with other smart home products, such as a smart refrigerator that was used by hackers as a spam sender to send tens of thousands of spam emails; the Nest thermostat exposes security holes, and hackers can know if the user is at home. All in all, don't buy the product easily without ensuring that the company has effective anti-hacking technology, because the hidden dangers of home security may have more serious consequences than the mobile Trojan.

6. Incompatible interconnections Because the concept of smart home and the Internet of Things is still in its infancy and lacks a unified platform, vendors mostly own their own businesses. They only provide the interconnection compatibility of their own products or support a certain kind of relative independence. The standard, which has brought some obstacles in the use of linkage. For example, if you want to achieve "Play a soothing sound with wireless audio, and smart light bulbs flicker with music," it's best to determine whether they support the IFTTT standard or smart light bulb applications provide stand by.

In the future, giant home-level smart home platforms such as Apple HomeKit and Google Android Home are expected to improve the current split situation and provide an integrated linkage platform to allow devices to work together better, but it will take a long period of time to develop. . So if you can't wait to enter the smart home, it's best to see if the product supports the mainstream smart home platform of the future.

to sum up:

Obviously, people's pursuit of "intelligence" is endless, but at present smart home products are not perfect. Although in the short term we cannot expect the emergence of household products with AI that can be thought and learned like humans, better maneuverability, more practical functions, effective linkage mechanisms, and higher security are all manufacturers can use. The direction of effort. All in all, smart home products should not seek empty, gimmick-like "tall ups," but will only bring about a truly "intellectual experience" from the basic experience of gradual improvement and the provision of a people-oriented application.