Internet of Things A to Z

13Smart Connected Homes

Joseph Bugeja, Andreas Jacobsson, and Paul Davidsson

Internet of Things and People Research Center and Department of Computer Science and Media Technology, Malmö University, Malmö, Sweden

13.1 Introduction

Nowadays, connectivity and smartphone ownership is pervasive in large parts of the world. This alongside technological innovations, availability, and affordability of smart devices has given momentum to the emerging paradigm of the Internet of Things (IoT). A smart connected home is an instance of this paradigm, inheriting all the aspects of connectivity of the involved devices.

A smart connected home is a residence equipped with sensors, systems, and devices that can be remotely accessed, controlled, and monitored, typically via the Internet (Balta-Ozkan et al., 2013). According to a study conducted by Statista,¹ the global smart home market in 2015 was valued at close to $9.8 billion and it is expected to reach about $43 billion in 2020. Similarly, a survey commissioned by August Home and Xfinity Home² reported that the smart home market is anticipated to double in the United States by 2017. Research from the company Icontrol Networks³ indicate that personal and family security are the key drivers for householders purchasing a smart home system in the United States and Canada. The report also identifies altruistic aspects connected to smart home technologies. For instance, around 74% of the surveyed parents say they would sleep better at night if ...