East-West: what is the difference between smart home
Smart homes are an actively developing trend that appeared in the 2010s. At the beginning of 2012, analysts predicted a huge growth in the smart home market, and they were right: now its annual profit is estimated in the tens of billions of dollars, although in 2013 it was barely approaching 5 billion. It is interesting to see how the smart home market reflects the values of Western and Eastern societies and adapts to the peculiarities of megacities in Japan and Europe. It does not lag behind global ideas about regions and their populations, and perhaps even confirms them.
Smart homes in the East
Japan is the capital of Asian technological development, and the smart home market in Asia mostly consists of offers from Japanese companies. The mentality of the people of the land of the Rising Sun has turned technology into a channel of safety and tranquility for their loved ones: the majority of technologies used in Japan are aimed at supporting the elderly. The solutions used in the construction of smart homes in Japan are striking non-standard. Try to guess how the sons of the Mikado use these devices:
Refrigerator opening sensor
Motion sensor
Toilet seat lift sensor
Thought? Below are the answers.
Unusual solutions in the Eastern smart home
Refrigerator opening sensor-if an elderly person does not open the refrigerator for a long time, their relatives receive a message with a warning about strange behavior and an offer to check how their grandparents are doing. Motion sensor-allows you to determine whether the family is too sedentary and gives a signal if they are too lazy or sit in front of the TV for a long time (the maximum allowed time in one position is adjusted). A toilet seat lift sensor is integrated with pressure sensors on the toilet seat and movement in the toilet cavity, which allows you to detect suspicions of urological diseases when using the toilet too rarely or often.
The Japanese pay no less attention to the environmental friendliness of their systems. To reduce water consumption, the water from the sink does not go into the sewer, but fills the toilet’s drain tank. The system settings can set the maximum time for using the shower-so that you do not sit too long and do not pour water in vain.
Smart homes in the West
Systems that help older people in Europe and the United States are not so widespread. Here we can see a new trend-smart home as a simplification of life, comfort and insurance in case of unforeseen situations. Already, developers are equipping homes with gas sensors, temperature, humidity, and even Geiger counters, which do not make themselves felt until they record an excess of acceptable temperature values or another indicator. From anywhere in the world, you can check whether the humidity is normal and make sure that everything is fine with the house. A lot of attention is paid to the microclimate in the rooms-you can make it warmer in the children’s room by airing the living room before going to bed. Window management, by the way, is already available as an additional option in packages for smart homes of many companies.
Smart homes in the East and West are two different groups of opportunities that use the same technologies for different purposes. This clearly shows how flexible and individual the idea of a smart home system is. By combining already available solutions, you can achieve results from the future today!