Your home is your sanctuary. It is a place where you want to feel safe. Where you want your needs and desires to be easily met. And where you can relax and have a good time. And as tech continues to come out to make your home smarter, it can also help to achieve all of that as well.
Closet: A Virtual Style Assistant
The Amazon Echo Look ($199) is an Alexa-enabled camera that can take full-length pictures or six-second videos of your daily look and even blur out the background to make your outfits pop. In addition to sharing the pictures, the Look can also create a virtual lookbook of your outfits so you can browse outfits by color, season, weather, etc., as well as view a calendar of what you wore and when. The Style Check option allows you to submit two photos and then uses machine learning algorithms and advice from fashion specialists to tell you what outfit looks better.
Entertaining: The Keurig of Brewing
Brewing fresh beer has never been easier than with Pico C ($399). For craft beer enthusiasts who don’t want to worry about all of the complex equipment, they can simply select a PicoPak from Pico’s BrewMarketplace, insert it into machine, and the work is done for you. PicoPaks are sent directly to your doorstep with everything pre-measured, and the Pico C will even recognize the recipe and brew the beer in about two hours. The BrewMarketplace contains recipes from more than 150 brewery partners around the world—or you can craft your own using the FreeStyle program.
Doorbell: Certainly No Dumbbell
Nest Hello ($199) is not the only smart doorbell option, but it does have some unique features. In addition to providing 24/7 streaming and continuous video recording (storing up to 30 days of video at a time), this doorbell can also recognize people you know, as well as strangers, and send an alert. The Nest Hello’s camera has night vision and HDR video capability, so you can see clearly at all times of day. You can also reply to people at the door using prerecorded messages.
Bathroom: Personalized Shower Experience
Even showers are given the smart upgrade with U by Moen ($1,225 to $2,265). With both Alexa and Apple options, users can control the shower through voice commands or their smartphone. Up to 12 preset options can be set for each user’s personalized shower experience. Just say or click the name of that preset and U by Moen will start the shower and let you know when it is ready. You can also pause the shower, if need be, and track your length of shower time.
Security Light: Adding Ambience to Safety
The Arlo Security Light ($150) is completely wire and cord free—it runs on a rechargeable battery—making it easy to install anywhere in or outside your house. It is also fully customizable, with the ability to adjust beam width and select from millions of colors. It can be controlled via Alexa or your smartphone, with the ability to set motion detection alerts to go to your phone or email as well as set a schedule to automate your light when you are at home or on vacation.
