Imagine you arrive at school and realize you forgot to feed the dog. No problem. Pull out your phone and command the dog dish to dispense a serving of food. That's all there is to it - if you live a smart home. What once sounded like science fiction is now a reality for some families. People use smart phones and other devices to lock doors, turn on lights, close window shades, and check to see how much milk they have in the fridge. Find out how this technology works and what the future holds for smart homes.

Do you long to listen to your favorite CD from anywhere in your house? To set up a wireless network so you can access the Internet in any room? To install an iron-clad security system? To fire up the coffee pot while you’re still asleep and wake up with automated lighting? Smart home technology can help you do just that! Smart Homes For Dummies, Third Edition, shows you how easy it can be to create and live in a cutting-edge, fully connected home—without breaking your bank account. With this user-friendly guide, you’ll discover all the latest trends and gadgets in home networking, automation, and control that will help you make life more enjoyable and comfortable for your entire family. We help you plan for things such as flat-screen TVs, intercom systems, whole-home audio systems, gaming consoles, and satellite systems. We talk about your wiring (and wireless) options and introduce you to the latest technologies, such as VoIP and Bluetooth. You’ll see how to: Build your home network on a budget Turn your home into an entertainment center Access the Internet from any room Get VoIP on your phone network Boost in-home wireless and cell phone signals Connect your computer to your TV Secure your home and property Increase your home’s resale value Avoid common networking pitfalls And much, much more Complete with a resource list for more information and neat toys of the future, Smart Homes For Dummies is your plain-English, twenty-first century guide to a fully wired home!

Starting immediately with "The Stuff They Don't Tell You," the Smart Smart Home Handbook is a book designed to save its readers time and money, while still opening the possibilities of smart tech (from lighting to robot lawnmowers). It does this by explaining a little about the underlying technologies in human terms, before moving on to look them one by one. The book also shares some experiences of families who have installed tech you might be considering, helping you ask - and answer - questions that won't be in the glossy promotional videos (from "How good is Alexa with accents?" to "How will your spouse feel if she needs her phone to turn the lights on?"). On the other hand, it will also introduce you to exciting possibilities you may not have thought of, from lighting that matches the TV screen to create a movie effect, to methods to let the delivery guy in from your desk at the office. Find out how to create programs and sequences. Finally the book will address the digital security concerns which retailers never do, and show you the best ways to ensure that you get all the advantages of smart home tech, with none of the risks of hackers.

Winner, Bronze Award, APEX 2018 and 2018 INDIES Book of the Year Honorable Mention/Health This full-color introduction to the smart home has been written from the ground up with one audience in mind: seniors. No ordinary "beginner's book," My Smart Home for Seniors approaches every topic from a 50+ person's point of view, using meaningful, realistic examples. Full-color, step-by-step tasks–in legible print–walk you through making your home safer and easier to live in using smart technology. Learn how to: • Control your home’s lighting with smart bulbs and switches • Make your home more secure with smart doorbells, door locks, and security cameras • Automatically control your home’s temperature with a smart thermostat • Make cooking and cleaning easier with smart appliances • Use voice commands or your smart phone to control your smart devices • Use If This Then That (IFTTT) to make your smart devices interact with each other automatically • Get smart about the security and privacy concerns of smart devices • Set up your smart devices and get them to work with one another • Compare and select the best smart hub for your smart home needs • Learn to use Amazon AlexaTM, Google HomeTM and other voice-activated devices, as well as Apple’s HomeKitTM on the iPhone, to make your smart devices work together

Smart home technologies promise to transform domestic comfort, convenience, security and leisure while also reducing energy use. But delivering on these potentially conflicting promises depends on how they are adopted and used in homes. This book starts by developing a new analytical framework for understanding smart homes and their users. Drawing on a range of new empirical research combining both qualitative and quantitative data, the book then explores how smart home technologies are perceived by potential users, how they can be used to link domestic energy use to common daily activities, how they may (or may not) be integrated into everyday life by actual users, and how they serve to change the nature of control within households and the home. The book concludes by synthesising a range of evidence-based insights, and posing a series of challenges for industry, policy, and research that need addressing if a smart home future is to be realised. Researchers will find this book provides useful insights into this fast-growing field

Smart homes, home automation and ambient-assisted living are terms used to describe technological systems that enrich our living environment and provide means to support care, facilitate well-being and improve comfort. This handbook provides an overview of the domain from the perspective of health care and technology. In Part 1, we set out to describe the demographic changes in society, including ageing and diseases and impairments which lead to the needs for technological solutions. In Part 2, we describe the technological solutions, ranging from sensor-based networks, components, to communication protocols that are used in the design of smart homes. We also deal will biomedical features which can be measured and services that can be delivered to end-users as well as the use of social robots. In Part 3, we present best practices in the field. These best practices mainly focus on existing projects in Europe, the USA and Asia, in which people receive help through dedicated technological solutions being part of the continuum of the home environment and care.