The next dream for technologists is to integrate into the home a system that will allow the use of hand signals to complete simple tasks, like opening and closing curtains, write FUNKE OSAE-BROWN and OBINNA EMELIKE.
Priceless artworks, indoor swimming pools, bars are the features of a millionaire’s mansion, but owners of modern day fabulous homes are now asking for digitised wardrobes, curtains, doors and more. Home automation is now in and technology experts say the sky is the limit when it comes to automating the house in this century.
There are technologies that allow home owners enter their homes without a key; there is a chip embedded in the arm so that the door can opened without a key. For the home of the future, automation and design experts are creating unique design from start to finish of the building.
Today, architects can join two buildings together with a spiral slippery dip, which enables movement from one level to the next. For instance, two identical one bedroom apartments, one atop the other, can be combined into a 2-bedroom duplex with the option to descend in the usual way or via the new Italian-made stair way, called Rintal.
In addition, technophiles have taken concept of convenience and hassle free home to a new level by embedding microchip embedded in the tenant’s or home owner’s arm, which he can use to unlock the front door as he nears his home. With the same technology, he can unlock his car and start the engine without laying a finger on his car ignition.
Like the Microsoft’s Kinect gaming console, Xbox3, the next ambition for some technologists is to integrate into the home a more meaningful way, a system which one can use hand signals to complete simple tasks like opening and closing curtains. And so, for most technophiles, Kinect has huge potential as a platform for future home automation applications.
Going by the 3D model of a person and his colour image used in Kinetic Xbox3, which allows someone to understand where a person is in the room, this means in the home of the future, it is possible to point at a TV screen to turn it on. An action that hitherto was impossible.
Also, in today’s modern home, speakers can be put under the water in swimming pools so people can listen to music while swimming. The home of the future simply says whatever challenge you dream of can be fixed with technology. Fulfilling your dreams simply means money.
To allow for space in the home, enormous flat screen televisions are mounted on walls. Just as technophiles are creating new things, TV manufacturers are equally responding to this demand. For instance, for the Panasonic’s 85-inches TV, there is a special lifter that lift it up right from the floor. There is also a 103-inches TV in a cabinet with hydraulic doors, which closes when the TV is not in use.
Another latest collection is a bat cave styled entrance at a residential car park. It has a concealed ramp that appears like a normal above-ground car space. The door identifies the approaching car and then decides whether or not to open itself. Technologists in Europe are also experiment ting with robots as they are manufacturing tennis-playing robots, winery fermentation controls, super yacht controllers, turntables and vehicle lifts. Today, there are technology based toilets that monitor someone’s waste and report on important health checks.
A lot are really custom jobs that are peculiar to a person’s personality. I have one guy, if he sees a shower with flashing lights when travelling overseas, then he’ll want flashing lights in his shower too, and all of that has to be built from scratch.
While most hotels make effort at creating a home-away-from-home setting in their rooms and vicinities with best of leisure facilities, surprisingly, there seems to be a growing number of luxury-imbued and hi-tech homes around the globe.
You may call them digitalised homes, but the reality is that life is lived at a very easy pace as residents or home owners make no effort at anything. The only effort is pushing the button or sending a command signal and things will simply sort themselves out. Such are trophy homes, only lived or owned by billionaires and probably, the most expensive piece of property any where they are located.
Of course, you do not expect to see a porter at the entrance of The Manor, in Beverly Hills, one of America’s most expensive homes. The automated gate will open for you if your visit is expected. The automated voice and video recorder will also demise you right at the entrance if you are not welcomed. Likewise, one out of the eight designated lifts in Antilla, the estimated $1 billion home of Mukesh Ambani, the Indian billionaire, will open to take you up the 27-storey skyscraper home only when a microchip tag hangs on your neck. The chips have sensors that guide visitor till his final destination in the sprawling home.
Down here in the country, there are many of such multi-million naira homes but the automation of such homes seems to be the in-thing nowadays. The difference between the Ship House, the magnificent country home of Authur Nzeribe in Egbema, Imo State, is that it is not as automated as more modern designs. The taste now differs with more emphasis on automation of homes besides their magnificence.
The present crop of superrich across the country do not build as much and as expensive as the estimated $100 million mansion of Mai Deribe’s mansion in Maiduguri, before automating their homes. A drive through some of the rich neighbourhoods in Lagos and Abuja reveals some innovations of easy life, boosts security and redefines status, especially for those who are crazy about their social standing in life.
You do not expect less at Femi Otedola’s spectacular and highly automated Ikoyi home. Before you announce your presence, the electronic gadgets table your details for screening and the opening of the automated gate tells how welcomed you are. Order wise, an automated voice from a wall speaker demises you right away.
When completed, Mike Adenuga’s multimillion naira castle on Banana Island in Lagos is expected to be nothing less than mini heaven with facilities such as multiple swimming pools, a swim-in Jacuzzi bar, a multi-use court for tennis and basketball, a ‘dance hall,’ a spa with a hair salon, and enough space to accommodate guests and house attendants.
Why automate a home? Andrew Obiechina, an architect and estate developer, says the insecurity, safety of lives and properties, the accessibility and availability of some revolutionary hi-tech home innovations now leave home owners with the option of automated homes.
The emphasis, according to him, is now on equipping the home with modern fittings that will serve the security, convenience and comfort of the owner and the occupants. “A less expansive or magnificent but automated home is better than a cathedral home that is not modelled in line with modern technology. The situation is comparable to driving a manual and automatic vehicle. The difference and benefit of one outwit the other,” he explains.
Surprisingly, most of his superrich clients now ask for portable designs unlike their folks in the past that measure their status with how big their homes are. Besides that, they insist on fittings that will make some developers think the owner has other usage of the house than for residential purpose.
“If you want a home with a submarine, a helipad or a bunker, then you are asking for top security and leisure fittings that will leave your home more automated than you will ever imagine,” he says.
But beyond the cost, the architect thinks convenience and not status is what automated home represents. At this digital age, he says life should be lived at ease while machine handles cores that are stressful, as currently done in Japan, a country he notes parades the highest number of automated homes and services in the world. “It is a robot affair, they are everywhere, from home to office, relieving humans from some stress. One day, robots may die in place of the humans,” he concludes.
