What makes a 'Smart Device'?

 I'm sure you've all heard of the term 'Smart Device' but what does the term actually mean? You'll see companies advertise their product as a smart device, usually referring to the fact that you can connect to and remotely control the device. According to multiple sources, a smart device is a device that can 'connect, interact and share data with other smart devices and it's user'. Other sources say that smart devices are'intelligent with advanced compute, including AI and machine learning.' My own view says that it would be any device that can be access remotely or set up to do tasks autonomously. Whatever your view on a smart device might be, chances are you already own at least one smart device in your home, with 63.43 million home in the US having at least one smart device. The device in question must have some form of communicating with other devices, this usually being over Bluetooth and the internet along with access to mains power. With this you can achieve complete autonomy with multiple devices devices connected the same medium (provided that these devices are compatible). This allows you to have a routine at a certain time to turn down lights and turn off power to non-essentials or make it so your house goes into an 'energy saving' mode whenever you leave. Some of the mediums that are available are: most mobile phones, Amazon Alexa, Google home hubs and a Homepod mini. These allow your smart devices functions to be fully unlocked and controlled through a user-friendly interface, making the age of smart device ever so attainable.The way these devices do this is usually through a relay system, pinging the signal off of other smart devices until it reaches its desired destination and perform the action. The difference between all of these is minimal at best with Alexa taking the advantage but not even with anything to do with smart devices. The Alexa's extra functions are whispering and tracking Amazon orders, neither of which entirely useful for a smart home or enough for you to disregard the Google home. So what makes a 'smart device'? It turns out communication and automation are the two main reasons but with the age of tech will make these function so complex that a smart device will be a staple in out lives.

How does this affect our Smart Home. Our home is fitted with 8 sensors of varying kinds with 5 actuators and a switch. Most of these sensors can be found in our homes. This includes: motion sensor being in devices like floodlights or motion activated lights for saving power; photoresistor sensor in items similar to a night light; gas sensors used in varying life saving alarms to detect volatile gas, smoke and even carbon monoxide leaks; Bluetooth sensor which can be found in most smart devices and your phone and a steam sensor which might be used to control some windows in a house as to not cause water damage. Overall, most of the sensors on our smart home can be found in actual homes. All of these devices connect to a medium (an app on your phone) and all communicate with each other to check certain criteria in order to open a window by turning a servo, turning on a light or even spinning a fan. All of these criteria could be said to mimic most of the criteria for a smart device or even multiple. Is this all necessary? Not really however it could be used as an educational tool to show future generations what the smart homes of the future could entail, their functions and how it could improve safety in our lives. 

Sources:

First definition- https://marketbusinessnews.com/financial-glossary/what-is-smart/

Second definition- https://www.arm.com/glossary/smart-devices

Smart devices stat- https://www.oberlo.com/statistics/smart-home-statistics

How smart devices speak- https://medium.com/@evankinswood/how-smart-devices-talks-to-each-other-3163fc3a89b5

List of parts for smart https://wiki.keyestudio.com/KS0085_Keyestudio_Smart_Home_Kit_for_Arduino#Kit_List