The walls of the home are breaking down

May 18, 2018

Smart home devices and online platforms with home-related services are changing what it means to be at home. The former removes the friction of ‘being at home’, and the latter ‘commodifies’ our home. While this may detach ourselves from the house itself, the home becomes much more than just a place to live and we are more deeply embedding ourselves in ‘being at home’.

Our observations

  • Technology companies are in an implicit battle for the technological hub of the home. There are smart speakers, smart TVs, videogame consoles, smartphones, laptops and tablets that all carry software to become the central hub of the home. Amazon has announced new smart TVs that will have personal assistant Alexa built in, which is now in more than 12000 devices from over 2000 manufacturers. More than 5000 smart home devices use Google Assistant.
  • The promise of domestic robots has been around for decades. iRobot Corp.’s Roomba – which only does one thing: vacuum – is the industry leader. It has sold more than 20 million units since 2002. Now, Amazon is reportedly working on robots for the home. Codenamed “Vesta,” after the Roman goddess of the hearth, home and family, the project could be a sort of mobile Alexa. Prototypes of the robots have advanced cameras and computer vision software and can navigate through homes like a self-driving car.
  • Amazon and Apple are in a race to install smart home devices in homes while they are under construction. They have struck deals with homebuilders to install their devices directly into ceilings, walls and doors while the house is being built.
  • A range of platforms is changing our relationship to our homes. Airbnb transforms our homes into spaces that we can rent out to anyone across the world that comes to visit. Home-cooked food sharing platforms (e.g. DishMe, LaPiat) move the practice of cooking beyond the home, into the wider city. There are also platforms like Peerby to rent tools from people in the neighborhood.

Connecting the dots

The rise of smart home technologies (smart speakers and TVs, domestic robots, but also platforms like Airbnb) are changing our relationship to our home. On the surface, these technologies seem to distance us from our homes by transforming them into neutral objects, commodities or ‘houses’: Airbnb transforms the home into a “commodity” to rent out, cooking platforms transform home-cooked meals into products, and domestic robots and personal assistants remove the friction associated with maintaining a home. However, at the same time, these technologies can also increase the value we attach to ‘being at home’ and embed us and our homes in a “glocal” context.Smart home devices like domestic robots and personal assistants, instead of merely detaching us from our homes by removing friction, also transform our idea of ‘being at home’. If we bring our personal assistants (e.g. Alexa, Siri) with us everywhere we move to, we become detached from the house itself, but we bring along the familiarity of being at home at all times. Instead of having to re-root ourselves when we move, or developing a relationship to our house, we have partly enshrined the meaning of being at home in the technology we use. Hence, while a frictionless home seems to distance us from the house itself, we regain something of the familiarity of “being at home” which is partly lost in the modern age of rapid urbanization. Bringing Alexa or Siri with us could make us feel at home in any house or hotel. Furthermore, this meaningfulness of smart home devices is all about the functioning software inside of the hardware, which is why the battle for the hub is not actually about hardware devices. Indeed, Amazon is bringing Alexa to everything from TVs to smart speakers. Besides smart home devices carrying software, our homes are also being transformed by online platforms. In a sense, these platforms are breaking down the walls of the home: the house becomes more than a place to live in, as we rent it out (e.g. Airbnb), turn activities of the home into c products (e.g. cooking), and share tools and other services. Again, instead of simply turning the home into a commodity, we hereby also more deeply root our home in a “glocal” context. For example, while these platforms are global, meaning anyone far from our neighborhood can use them, they are also local, as everything about the home remains bound to its location (e.g. the distribution of food, the welcoming of tourists, the sharing of tools with neighbors). All in all, while smart home technology and online platforms “disembed” us from the house itself, they also embed us more deeply in being at home (similar to how work has become more mobile and rooted in the technology we use), as the home becomes much more than just a space to live.

Implications

  • The rise of smart home devices could be an enabler of new types of living. As the meaning of being at home changes through our digital platforms, we could become more open to new types of living (e.g. pre-fabricated homes, mixed community living). Our location preferences could also change (e.g. the benefits of living away from the urban center could increasingly be valued more highly, as the experience of being at home changes).
  • In the battle for the hub of the home, devices without sophisticated smart home software will lose. Naturally, devices that add digital assistant software could become more important (e.g. smart TVs, potentially videogame consoles).

Series 'AI Metaphors'

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1. The tool
Category: the object
Humans shape tools.

We make them part of our body while we melt their essence with our intentions. They require some finesse to use but they never fool us or trick us. Humans use tools, tools never use humans.

We are the masters determining their course, integrating them gracefully into the minutiae of our everyday lives. Immovable and unyielding, they remain reliant on our guidance, devoid of desire and intent, they remain exactly where we leave them, their functionality unchanging over time.

We retain the ultimate authority, able to discard them at will or, in today's context, simply power them down. Though they may occasionally foster irritation, largely they stand steadfast, loyal allies in our daily toils.

Thus we place our faith in tools, acknowledging that they are mere reflections of our own capabilities. In them, there is no entity to venerate or fault but ourselves, for they are but inert extensions of our own being, inanimate and steadfast, awaiting our command.
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2. The machine
Category: the object
Unlike a mere tool, the machine does not need the guidance of our hand, operating autonomously through its intricate network of gears and wheels. It achieves feats of motion that surpass the wildest human imaginations, harboring a power reminiscent of a cavalry of horses. Though it demands maintenance to replace broken parts and fix malfunctions, it mostly acts independently, allowing us to retreat and become mere observers to its diligent performance. We interact with it through buttons and handles, guiding its operations with minor adjustments and feedback as it works tirelessly. Embodying relentless purpose, laboring in a cycle of infinite repetition, the machine is a testament to human ingenuity manifested in metal and motion.
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3. The robot
Category: the object
There it stands, propelled by artificial limbs, boasting a torso, a pair of arms, and a lustrous metallic head. It approaches with a deliberate pace, the LED bulbs that mimic eyes fixating on me, inquiring gently if there lies any task within its capacity that it may undertake on my behalf. Whether to rid my living space of dust or to fetch me a chilled beverage, this never complaining attendant stands ready, devoid of grievances and ever-willing to assist. Its presence offers a reservoir of possibilities; a font of information to quell my curiosities, a silent companion in moments of solitude, embodying a spectrum of roles — confidant, servant, companion, and perhaps even a paramour. The modern robot, it seems, transcends categorizations, embracing a myriad of identities in its service to the contemporary individual.
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4. Intelligence
Category: the object
We sit together in a quiet interrogation room. My questions, varied and abundant, flow ceaselessly, weaving from abstract math problems to concrete realities of daily life, a labyrinthine inquiry designed to outsmart the ‘thing’ before me. Yet, with each probe, it responds with humanlike insight, echoing empathy and kindred spirit in its words. As the dialogue deepens, my approach softens, reverence replacing casual engagement as I ponder the appropriate pronoun for this ‘entity’ that seems to transcend its mechanical origin. It is then, in this delicate interplay of exchanging words, that an unprecedented connection takes root that stirs an intense doubt on my side, am I truly having a dia-logos? Do I encounter intelligence in front of me?
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5. The medium
Category: the object
When we cross a landscape by train and look outside, our gaze involuntarily sweeps across the scenery, unable to anchor on any fixed point. Our expression looks dull, and we might appear glassy-eyed, as if our eyes have lost their function. Time passes by. Then our attention diverts to the mobile in hand, and suddenly our eyes light up, energized by the visual cues of short videos, while our thumbs navigate us through the stream of content. The daze transforms, bringing a heady rush of excitement with every swipe, pulling us from a state of meditative trance to a state of eager consumption. But this flow is pierced by the sudden ring of a call, snapping us again to a different kind of focus. We plug in our earbuds, intermittently shutting our eyes, as we withdraw further from the immediate physical space, venturing into a digital auditory world. Moments pass in immersed conversation before we resurface, hanging up and rediscovering the room we've left behind. In this cycle of transitory focus, it is evident that the medium, indeed, is the message.
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6. The artisan
Category: the human
The razor-sharp knife rests effortlessly in one hand, while the other orchestrates with poised assurance, steering clear of the unforgiving edge. The chef moves with liquid grace, with fluid and swift movements the ingredients yield to his expertise. Each gesture flows into the next, guided by intuition honed through countless repetitions. He knows what is necessary, how the ingredients will respond to his hand and which path to follow, but the process is never exactly the same, no dish is ever truly identical. While his technique is impeccable, minute variation and the pursuit of perfection are always in play. Here, in the subtle play of steel and flesh, a master chef crafts not just a dish, but art. We're witnessing an artisan at work.
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About the author(s)

At sister company Dasym, Alexander has been assigned a variety of tasks, for his interests transcend branches of knowledge as well as geographical boundaries. In brief, he writes policy papers, interprets and elucidates global developments, and conducts thematic investment research. His academic background spans public administration, history of international relations, and philosophy, having published dissertations on smart cities, Ethiopian sovereignty and independence, and Chinese philosophy towards technology. Integral to his responsibilities, Alexander wades through the latest literature on geopolitics, technology, financial markets and cultural anthropology.

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