The Next Big Opportunity for Tech Entrepreneurs? 'Smart' Homes

"Smart" homes these days means safe homes, in terms of security and health. The IoT opportunities are out there. Are you game?

The role of technology in the home has changed drastically in recent years. We've come a long way from the kitchen wall phone and desktop computer, in an era when smartphones, tablets and wearables dominate the scene. The newest wave comes from the internet of things (IoT), and today's offerings are raising the bar on what makes a device "smart."

Increasingly, "smart" means safe, in terms of security and health. Joe Colistra, architect at the Center for Design Research at the University of Kansas, was recently profiled in The Atlantic on his vision for a smart home that safeguards occupants' well-being. Such updates include motion-sensing walls and force-detecting floors that notice walking problems in senior citizens. Another update: "smart toilets" that analyze biochemistry and report to doctors on the user's health.

With technology redefining home life in these ways, now seems like a ripe time for entrepreneurs to get in on the action. But, with the new terrain comes unforeseen pitfalls, so those looking to make that leap would do well to watch where they land.

The pitfalls possible with "smart" homes

Soon we will expect more and more from our homes in terms of safety and health monitoring, energy efficiency, convenience and other domains. But the path to success for entrepreneurs requires the safe navigation of some new terrain.

Take those smart "healthy homes," for instance. More than any group, seniors would benefit, but they aren't typically early adopters. Many will be reticent to install the sorts of sensor technology necessary -- not because of cost, but because of security.

And there's good reason for that: It's already bad enough that our webcams could be spying on us; we surely don't want our entire houses to be informants to some unseen hacker or corporate bad actor.

Smart home artifical intelligence needs to be designed to recognize uncharacteristic network traffic from every connected device in a home, acting as a tipoff for bot network shenanigans. Luckily, that's not difficult: It's instilling the "security first" mindset into developers and entrepreneurs that takes the most effort.

For those who can establish the right approach to security and data sharing -- and back it up with truly innovative and robust practices, there is a tremendous future ahead.

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Author: Gideon Kimbrell