The falling cost of adding sensing and communications capabilities to consumer products means the typical family home could contain several hundred smart objects by 2022.
According to Gartner, the smart home will be an area of “dramatic evolution” over the next decade, offering a plethora of innovative digital opportunities to businesses successfully adapting their respective products and services.
“We expect that a very wide range of domestic equipment will become ‘smart’ in the sense of gaining some level of sensing and intelligence combined with the ability to communicate, usually wirelessly,” said Nick Jones, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner.
“More sophisticated devices will include both sensing and remote control functions. Price will seldom be an inhibitor because the cost of the Internet of Things (IoT) enabling a consumer ‘thing’ will approach $1 in the long term.”
As Jones explains, most smart domestic objects will contain some type of sensor, with some packing many sensors. As such, collecting, analyzing and monetizing the information collected by smart products will clearly be central to many IoT-based digital business models.
It should be noted that there are a wide variety of smart domestic products already on the market. These include consoles, TVs, cookers, washing machines, security and environmental controls, as well as healthcare and fitness equipment.
As we’ve previously discussed on Rambus Press, a new generation of discerning, lensless sensors could significantly help accelerate the IoT’s development and scope. To be sure, Rambus lensless sensors are designed to target specific tasks, functions and features – just like application specific neurons in the brain.
“For example, our low power sensors can tell you how many people are in a particular room, recognize a specific gesture performed in close proximity to a smartphone or tablet, gauge light levels and detect when a car is approaching your vehicle’s bumper,” added inventor Dr. Patrick R. Gill.
“We expect inexpensive, low power sensors to become ubiquitous as the IoT rapidly evolves. They are absolutely essential to helping us make sense of the world around us.”
Interested in learning more about Rambus lensless sensors? You can read the paper titled “Lensless Ultra-Miniature CMOS Computational Imagers and Sensors” by David G. Stork and Patrick R. Gill here and check out “Smart Sensors Go Lensless For The IoT” here.
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