This week’s Smart Living roundup features a survey among American consumers regarding the public perception of smart homes, expectations for highly automated cars set to hit the market in 2017, an all-seeing robot vacuum, an affordable wireless lighting system, and the couch of your dreams.

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Smart homes are here to stay

Harris Interactive Inc., the company behind Harris Poll, conducted an online survey on behalf of Lowe’s Companies Inc. to determine how receptive American consumers are to smart home solutions.

The poll determined that out of the 2,000 U.S. adults surveyed, 52 percent see the smart home as something that is at least somewhat important to them, but 56 percent stated that cost or fees are the most important deciding factors as to whether a solution is right for them. Thirteen percent stated that ease of use was one of the factors they considered and 11 percent factored in security.

“In general, Americans feel positively toward products that will make their homes safer, more energy efficient, and easier to manage. It is added evidence that the smart home and Internet of Things are here to stay,” said Kevin Meagher, Lowe’s vice president and general manager, Smart Home.

GM plans to launch cars with Super Cruise mode by 2017

While addressing the Intelligent Transport Society, General Motors Co. CEO Mary Barra revealed that by 2017, the company will be launching a new Cadillac model equipped with what they call a Super Cruise technology. The Super Cruise is a semi-automatic system that allows hands-free driving on highways regardless of how fast or how slow they are travelling, so drivers can just sit back and relax, and enjoy the trip.

Around the same time, the company will also start selling cars equipped with vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, which has been identified as the technology that has the biggest potential to prevent fatal car accidents.

Dyson 360º Eye

Dyson Ltd. has unveiled an all-seeing robot vacuum called the Dyson 360º Eye. What makes it different from other robot vacuums is its unique 360° vision system that uses complex mathematics, probability theory, geometry and trigonometry to map and navigate a room. This helps it determine where it has been and where it  still needs to go.

For this vacuum, Dyson engineers have designed small motors called the Radial Root Cyclone and the Dyson Digital Motor V2, which generates high centrifugal forces to capture particles as small as pollen and mold, and generates the highest suction of any robot vacuum, according to Dyson. It also uses tank tracks to help it easily get around and about in the house no matter what type of floor you have. The brush bar has been enhanced with carbon fibre filaments that effectively clean hardwood floors and carpets. The newest Dyson weighs a little over five lbs, with a 0.4 liter bin capacity.

Owners can control the robot vacuum using a smartphone app, and it is smart enough to head for its charging station when the battery runs low. The vacuum will first launch in Japan, with no news as to when it will be launched in the US or how it will cost.

Clare Controls new smart lighting line

Clare Controls LLC unveiled ClareVue, a full-feature wireless lighting solution that can be customized to meet customers’ lifestyle and budget. The ClareVue lighting line includes dimmers, switches, keypads and receptacles all based on the Z-Wave mesh networking protocol, allowing it to overcome the default 30-foot limitation seen in other smart lighting kits.

The ClareVue lighting system is compatible with a variety of lighting types such as dimmable LED/CFL, incandescent, halogen, magnetic low-voltage, and electronic low-voltage loads. The reason behind its high scalability is that it doesn’t require any special house wiring, as the Z-Wave technology is built-into Clare’s CLIQ host, the company’s entry point for complete Clare Controls home automation systems.

Robocouch

What do you get when you throw in a Raspberry Pi, a USB game pad, a custom-built couch with mecanum wheels, and nine engineering students? Robocouch. This may be a dream come true for couch potatoes, but it also has potential to help people with disabilities, as the engineering students of New South Wales in Australia hopes to fit sensors into the robocouch so it can better map its environment and be able to get from one point to another without crashing into things while en route.

photo credit: Stefano A via photopin cc