Smart Home Automation: Integrating Technology for a Connected Home


Book Description

"Smart Home Automation: Enhancing Your Home with Connected Technology" is your essential guide to transforming your living space into a modern, efficient, and secure smart home. Explore the latest advancements in home automation systems, from voice-controlled assistants and smart lighting to automated security systems and energy management solutions. Whether you're a tech enthusiast, homeowner, or aspiring smart home designer, this comprehensive book provides practical insights, installation tips, and innovative ideas to create a personalized smart home experience that fits your lifestyle.




The Best Interface Is No Interface


Book Description

Our love affair with the digital interface is out of control. We’ve embraced it in the boardroom, the bedroom, and the bathroom. Screens have taken over our lives. Most people spend over eight hours a day staring at a screen, and some “technological innovators” are hoping to grab even more of your eyeball time. You have screens in your pocket, in your car, on your appliances, and maybe even on your face. Average smartphone users check their phones 150 times a day, responding to the addictive buzz of Facebook or emails or Twitter. Are you sick? There’s an app for that! Need to pray? There’s an app for that! Dead? Well, there’s an app for that, too! And most apps are intentionally addictive distractions that end up taking our attention away from things like family, friends, sleep, and oncoming traffic. There’s a better way. In this book, innovator Golden Krishna challenges our world of nagging, screen-based bondage, and shows how we can build a technologically advanced world without digital interfaces. In his insightful, raw, and often hilarious criticism, Golden reveals fascinating ways to think beyond screens using three principles that lead to more meaningful innovation. Whether you’re working in technology, or just wary of a gadget-filled future, you’ll be enlighted and entertained while discovering that the best interface is no interface.




Smart Mobs


Book Description

From Tokyo to Helsinki, Manhattan to Manila, Howard Rheingold takes us on a journey around the world for a preview of the next techno-cultural shift-a shift he predicts will be as dramatic as the widespread adoption of the PC in the 1980s and the Internet in the 1990s. The coming wave, says Rheingold, is the result of super-efficient mobile communications-cellular phones, personal digital assistants, and wireless-paging and Internet-access devices that will allow us to connect with anyone, anywhere, anytime. From the amusing ("Lovegetty" devices in Japan that light up when a person with the right date-potential characteristics appears in the vicinity) to the extraordinary (the overthrow of a repressive regime in the Philippines by political activists who mobilized by forwarding text messages via cell phones), Rheingold gives examples of the fundamentally new ways in which people are already engaging in group or collective action. He also considers the dark side of this phenomenon, such as the coordination of terrorist cells, threats to privacy, and the ability to incite violent behavior. Applying insights from sociology, artificial intelligence, engineering, and anthropology, Rheingold offers a penetrating perspective on the brave new convergence of pop culture, cutting-edge technology, and social activism. At the same time, he reminds us that, as with other technological revolutions, the real impact of mobile communications will come not from the technology itself but from how people use it, resist it, adapt to it, and ultimately use it to transform themselves, their communities, and their institutions.




Inside the Smart Home


Book Description

Using clear and accessible language this book examines the growing field of ‘smart technology’ for the home. The author first introduces the field before exploring the various background issues, including how the home differs from other environments. He then shows how these background issues affect the design and usability of these technologies. A detailed case study looks at the use of handheld and wearable digital technology in sheltered housing. The last section examines what it is like to live in a smart home and why they have so far failed to reach the levels of success originally predicted. Invaluable reading for anybody interested in designing smart technologies for the home.




The Fourth Industrial Revolution


Book Description

World-renowned economist Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, explains that we have an opportunity to shape the fourth industrial revolu­tion, which will fundamentally alter how we live and work. Schwab argues that this revolution is different in scale, scope and complexity from any that have come before. Characterized by a range of new technologies that are fusing the physical, digital and biological worlds, the developments are affecting all disciplines, economies, industries and governments, and even challenging ideas about what it means to be human. Artificial intelligence is already all around us, from supercomputers, drones and virtual assistants to 3D printing, DNA sequencing, smart thermostats, wear­able sensors and microchips smaller than a grain of sand. But this is just the beginning: nanomaterials 200 times stronger than steel and a million times thinner than a strand of hair and the first transplant of a 3D printed liver are already in development. Imagine “smart factories” in which global systems of manu­facturing are coordinated virtually, or implantable mobile phones made of biosynthetic materials. The fourth industrial revolution, says Schwab, is more significant, and its ramifications more profound, than in any prior period of human history. He outlines the key technologies driving this revolution and discusses the major impacts expected on government, business, civil society and individu­als. Schwab also offers bold ideas on how to harness these changes and shape a better future—one in which technology empowers people rather than replaces them; progress serves society rather than disrupts it; and in which innovators respect moral and ethical boundaries rather than cross them. We all have the opportunity to contribute to developing new frame­works that advance progress.




The Aging Consumer


Book Description

The Aging Consumer: Perspectives from Psychology and Marketing, 2nd edition takes stock of what is known around age and consumer behavior, identifies gaps and open questions within the research, and outlines an agenda for future research. There has been little systematic research done with respect to the most basic questions related to age and consumer behavior, such as whether older adults versus young and middle-age adults respond to marketing activities including pricing, promotions, product design, and distribution. Written by experts, The Aging Consumer compiles research on a broad range of topics on consumer marketing, from an individual to a societal level of analysis. This second edition provides new versions of chapters contained in the 2010 volume that have been updated to reflect the latest psychological and marketing research and thinking. Included also are ten new chapters which cover exciting new ground, such as changes in metacognition in older adults, motivated cognition of the aging consumer, and a global perspective on aging and the economy across cultures. This updated volume is beneficial for researchers and practitioners in marketing, consumer behavior, and advertising. Additionally, The Aging Consumer, 2nd edition will appeal to professionals in other fields such as psychology, decision sciences, gerontology and gerontological social work, and those who are concerned with normal human aging and its implications for the everyday behavior of older individuals. It will also be of interest to those in fields concerned with the societal implications of an aging population, such as economics, policy, and law.




Smart Homes The Future of Living


Book Description

"Smart Homes: The Future of Living" offers a comprehensive exploration of how advanced technologies are reshaping our daily lives. This insightful guide delves into the world of smart home automation, highlighting innovations that enhance comfort, convenience, and security. From the impact of AI and IoT to the ethical considerations surrounding data privacy and accessibility, readers will gain a deep understanding of the benefits and challenges of smart home technologies. Discover the potential for sustainable living and the exciting developments that lie ahead in the evolution of our homes. smart homes, smart home technology, home automation, IoT, artificial intelligence, energy efficiency, data privacy, sustainable living, smart devices, home security




The Future is Smart


Book Description

Are you ready for the IoT revolution? The Internet of Things (IoT) will soon be everywhere—embedded in interconnected devices we’ll use every day, and this book documents the shifts now under way. Cars, appliances, and wearables already transmit real-time data to improve performance, and new IoT products can even save your life. Consumer goods are just the tip of the iceberg. Amid projections that 30 billion smart devices will be linked soon, traditional companies such as Siemens, GE, and John Deere are preparing for profound changes to management, strategy, manufacturing, and maintenance. With the IoT, for example, sensors warn when a critical assembly-line part is about to break, or track how customers actually use products. Data hubs collect and share information instantly with departments, supply chains, partners, and customers— anchoring the organization and replacing hierarchies with circular systems. Written by a leading IoT strategist, The Future is Smart explains how companies are tapping technology to: Optimize supply chains Maximize quality Boost safety Increase efficiency Reduce waste Cut costs Revolutionize product design Delight customers For those who are ready, the opportunities are endless. This big-think book reveals concrete actions for thriving in this new tech-enabled world.




The Digital Revolution


Book Description

The massive transformations driven by digital technology have begun. The Digital Revolution gives you a complete roadmap for navigating the breathtaking changes happening now and shows you how to succeed. Silicon Valley executive, thought leader, and New York Times best-selling author Inder Sidhu shows how cloud computing, social media, mobility, sensors, apps, big data analytics, and more can be brought together in virtually infinite combinations to create opportunities and pose risks previously unimaginable. You’ll learn how digital pioneers are applying connected digital technologies, also known as the Internet of Everything, to dramatically improve financial performance, customer experience, and workforce engagement in fields ranging from healthcare to education, from retail to government. Sidhu combines the practical perspective of practitioners with the extensive experience of experts to show you how to win in the new digital age. He takes you behind the scenes, engaging with business leaders from Apple, Google, Facebook, Cisco, Intel, Amazon, Walmart, Starbucks, RSA, Kaiser, Cleveland Clinic, Intermountain Healthcare, and so on and with academic leaders from Stanford, Yale, Wharton, MIT, Coursera, Khan Academy, and more and reveals their winning strategies and execution tactics for your benefit. Sidhu also discusses the key challenges of privacy, security, regulation, and governance in depth and offers powerful insights on managing crucial ethical, social, cultural, legal, and economic issues that digitization creates. He shows what the digital revolution will mean for you, both personally and professionally--and how you can win. Learn how you can leverage the digital revolution to Deliver superior customer experiences Improve your organization’s financial performance Drive employee productivity, creativity, and engagement Build smart, efficient cities brimming with opportunity Make education more effective and relevant Achieve better health outcomes Make retail compelling, convenient, and profitable Balance privacy with security Protect yourself before, during, and after a cyberattack Accelerate your career and live a better life




Inside the Smart Home


Book Description

Using clear and accessible language this book examines the growing field of ‘smart technology’ for the home. The author first introduces the field before exploring the various background issues, including how the home differs from other environments. He then shows how these background issues affect the design and usability of these technologies. A detailed case study looks at the use of handheld and wearable digital technology in sheltered housing. The last section examines what it is like to live in a smart home and why they have so far failed to reach the levels of success originally predicted. Invaluable reading for anybody interested in designing smart technologies for the home.