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The Luxury of a Connected Home

November 11, 2022

What comes to mind when one thinks of the word “luxury?” Beautiful finishes in a spacious home? The taste of an excellent champagne? What about the fit and craftsmanship of a high-end automobile?

Focus on that last example for a moment. What features of that car make it luxurious? Beyond a plush interior and impeccable acceleration and handling, that luxury car likely comes loaded with features that adapt to the driver (such as automated seat settings), perfect climate control, a brilliant sound system and lighting that responds perfectly to a given situation. All those elements are likely controlled by an intuitive, elegant dashboard. By deploying the right technology, a connected home can function in precisely the same manner as that vehicle.

Above photo: Lighting is a category that may not immediately make a designer think of technology, but the most luxurious homes are those that offer customized lighting control. From their phone, tablet or wall-switch, homeowners can quickly activate their cooking scene or set the mood for entertaining. Photo credit: Crestron

The Right Light
One of the most significant technological leaps for the home (especially in the kitchen and bath) has come with the development of tunable LED lighting. From task lighting that reveals the true color of food to “biocentric” fixtures and bulbs that follow human circadian rhythms, there’s a vast array of options that can be fully automated to adjust for individual users, situations or time of day. Sensor-driven lighting can now match the temperature of external sunlight. And LED luminaires can be fashioned into various form factors that can highlight a home’s architectural brilliance.

Shading can be automated as well, and when those blinds are operating in concert with a lighting system, the blending of natural and artificial lighting solutions can create a spectacular environment. Shades that “know” when to block the brightest sunlight can also be a key part of a connected home’s climate-control system.

The connected thermostat has become nearly ubiquitous, so calling it a “luxury” might seem counterintuitive. However, given the evolving look and feel of these devices, they’ve become more refined and less utilitarian in appearance. In fact, every control device, from basic switches to multi-functional touch panels, are embracing the aesthetic of elegance.

Sound and Vision
Audio solutions for the modern, connected home continue to improve. New technologies are making speakers more compact, amplifiers more efficient and systems less obtrusive. The rise of streaming services – and their ease of delivery – means that entire libraries of musical favorites can be accessed in any room by any member of the family or provide stunning surround sound for movies, sports and shows.

The expansion of video displays into the kitchen and bath is another element of luxury: Entertaining content of any kind can now be accessed in any room in the home (and even outdoors). These solutions have a practical aspect, too: It’s now extremely simple to call up that culinary instruction video in the very room where you’ll be cooking.

All these factors can contribute to the experience of luxury, but there’s an aspect that’s a bit less tangible. When you start up a high-end automobile, there’s a certain feeling of security: You know all those systems will work, and the car has safety measures that can lessen the impact of an accident. The right tech – installed correctly – can have a similar effect, from frictionless, intuitive control to physical and cyber security features. After all, what’s more luxurious than complete peace of mind?

Michael Short is the director of residential marketing at Crestron.