6 Smart Home Gadgets That Will Inspire You

By Hunter Jensen, Founder and CEO of Barefoot Solutions

In the 2013 film Her, Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) has an operating system named Samantha who transforms from a virtual assistant to a literary agent. On The Jetsons, the Jetson family had Rosie, a robot who took care of day-to-day housework.

Though artificial intelligence hasn’t yet developed virtual assistants with the complexity of Samantha or sentient robots to do all our cleaning, devices in the home keep getting smarter. Today, we have robots that vacuum our floors and kettles that can be set to boil on a schedule. With the Internet of Things (IoT), home gadgets are making our lives easier, saving us money, and even helping us have more fun.

We’ve put together a list of six smart home gadgets that will inspire your own company as it considers developing its smart home technology. Some are simple while others are more complex, but they all offer something unique to people’s homes.

Six of Our Favorite Home Gadgets

The Lockitron Bolt

The Lockitron Bolt offers relief to parents with children who come and go from home without much consideration for locking up. It alerts users if a door is unlocked, and its Bridge add-on lets users lock the door from their smartphone. Plus it allows keyless entry, so there’s no need to keep that spare key under the mat or in the mailbox.

The Lockitron Bolt is the best of smart home tech: simple, practical, and secure.

Honeywell Lyric Wi-Fi Water Leak Detector

The next item on our list is just as simple and practical as the Lockitron Bolt. Honeywell’s water leak detector has a special 656-foot rope that can be placed around a room, in a cupboard, or behind or around an appliance that could leak, such as a washing machine or shower.

If the sensor detects water, the user is alert through their phone and can check it out. This is a great early-warning system for any leaks or burst pipes, minimizing the damage caused by a leak and helping to keep the water bill in check. It’s simple and effective.

Samsung Family Hub Refrigerator

Samsung’s Family Hub Refrigerator has the wow factor. Sure, it’s a refrigerator; but it can also keep your family organized just as well as it keeps your food fresh.

CNET declared, “Finally, a smart fridge that feels smart,” and it’s no wonder. The Family Hub has ingredient-tracking smartcams that will let you see when you’re low on an item. It has a 21.5-inch touchscreen that serves as a kitchen command center with a whiteboard app for writing notes, a timer app, and numerous recipe apps.

If that wasn’t enough, it also has an app that allows users to order groceries for home delivery, as well as StickiBoard, an app that imports calendars from Microsoft Outlook and Google so that all family members’ calendars can be found in one place.

Starting at $5,600, it’s not cheap, but the Family Hub feels like the realization of many home-tech fantasies. A fridge that tells you what food you’re out of, lets you order those items for home delivery, and keeps your family organized, too? Pretty smart indeed.

Philips Hue

The Philips Hue lighting system makes our list because of how fun it is. Okay, no one really needs a smartphone app that turns their lights blue or yellow, but who wouldn’t want one? People who entertain frequently, restaurants that turn into cocktail lounges, and businesses that like to do a little celebrating when they get a new sale will love how the Hue can playfully change the mood of the room.

Think of the drama a theater production can create with lighting. Now think of all the parties and events that can be made that much more atmospheric with the right colored lights. It’s almost too much fun.

The Roomba and the Tertill

The Roomba isn’t new (in fact, it’s been around since 2002, which in tech terms makes it positively ancient), but it makes our list because it shows how delightful gadgets and technology can be. What other technology would be called “charming”?

The Roomba has evolved significantly since its debut. The latest model is the smartest yet, and Joe Jones, the roboticist who developed the Roomba, is working on a similar robot called the Tertill that will weed gardens. What’s more, when it hits the market in summer 2017, the Tertill will provide information on plant and soil health.

The Tertill shows home gadgets aren’t just for inside the home — they’re starting to move into the yard, too. Look for more smart devices that help with gardening and yard work to start springing up soon.

Realizing Your Smart Home Vision

We hope this list has opened your eyes to what’s possible in the world of smart home appliances and technology. More than that, we hope it has sparked something to make you think big when it comes to your company’s smart home vision.

If you need more inspiration, it never hurts to venture outside the realm of reality to consider the world of fiction — movies and TV shows like Her and The Jetsons can provide inspiration for the next generation of smart devices. Sci-fi doesn’t always get it right, but it has paved the way for many technologies we love today. Who knows? Your company’s next great idea could already exist in the worlds of Star Wars or Blade Runner.

Wherever you find inspiration for your company’s smart home vision, make sure that vision considers what your customers want and need. Are your customers looking for ways to automate a nagging chore? Would they appreciate a gadget that makes their utilities run more efficiently? Could a smart home make their lives more fun? Consider how you could offer a smart home experience to make your customers’ lives easier, more efficient, or more pleasant all around.

Contributed By: Hunter Jensen is the Founder and CEO of Barefoot Solutions, an innovative digital agency headquartered in San Diego, CA. Barefoot Solutions specializes in web and mobile design and development, including web, iOS, Android, IoT, AppleTV, Apple Watch, and more. Having worked in technology for more than 19 years, Hunter’s experience covers the entire lifecycle of product design and development, as well as all other facets of running a digital agency, including business development and fundraising. Hunter’s comprehensive technical knowledge combined with his natural creativity enable him to meet his client’s needs with industry-leading digital solutions.