
Do you have any smart devices in your home? If so, do you know what makes them smart? Though most of us are generally familiar with the smart concept, it can be difficult to define exactly what a smart home or smart device is because there are so many definitions.
There are some people who believe a truly smart home thinks for itself in an ongoing effort to continually meet its master’s needs without any human input. There are others who believe smart devices can learn the way a human brain does. Indeed, the varying definitions applied to smart technology are as amusing as they are inconsistent.
It’s Not Just the IoT
Back in 2018, three British researchers from Coventry University and the University of Wolverhampton conducted an extensive data analysis using a variety of sources in hopes of coming up with a concrete definition of the smart device. They started with the assumption that all smart devices are Internet of Things (IoT) connected devices. But that assumption quickly broke down when they realized some smart devices could still operate within a closed network completely separate from internet access.
Such reasoning is hard to argue against. If you have the technical know-how, you could create your own smart home system using an old PC and different devices you bought at the hardware store. You could program the entire system to operate on a local network without any internet connectivity.
Four Criteria for Smart Devices
To make a long story short, the British researchers came up with four criteria they believe are common among truly smart devices. Based on the criteria, there are quite a few devices marketed as being smart when they really aren’t. Just because a device is IoT-capable does not make it smart.
With that said, here are the four criteria:
- Autonomy – A truly smart device is capable of some level of autonomy. In other words, it can be programmed to work on its own, without any human intervention above and beyond the initial programming.
- Conductivity – Conductivity is crucial to smart devices because it allows the devices to interact with other devices on the same network. Conductivity also makes interaction between device and human owner possible.
- Context Awareness – Context awareness is the ability of a smart device to gather and analyze data about the surrounding environment using a variety of sensors. The device itself is not aware, which is to say it is not sentient. It is just capable of gathering and analyzing external data.
- User Interaction – Truly smart devices are designed to be interactive. The user provides the device with data, and vice versa. A truly smart device can gather data otherwise unavailable to the user and present it through some sort of interface.
Based on these four criteria, a device like Vivint Home Security’s smart thermostat would qualify. A smart thermostat can be programmed and then artificially learn a homeowner’s routine based on data gathered via sensors. The thermostat also interacts with the homeowner and is connected both locally and via the internet.
All Devices Don’t Qualify
As previously stated, all devices marketed as smart don’t qualify when the four criteria are applied. A smart lock is a good example. Smart blocks display no autonomy. They offer zero context awareness. They do offer conductivity but only limited interaction.
While none of this matters from a practical standpoint, it does matter in terms of marketing. Consumers should focus on devices that perform as advertised. They should not invest in devices simply because manufacturers market their wares as being smart. Being smart means something.