The combination of mobile devices and connected smart home appliances allow users to remotely monitor and control their homes from anywhere, even if they’re halfway around the globe … as long as they are connected to the Internet. But smart homes are becoming even more useful and more secured when biometric scanning is added to smart home solutions.

Imagine stepping up to your front or back door and having it automatically unlock for you after an iris or face scan. What if the temperature in a room changed automatically after your footsteps were detected entering a location? Or what if your smart TV turned off automatically after the eye tracker detected that you dozed off?

The Internet of Things has delivered many interesting solutions to our homes and lives, but imagine the other possibilities when it is paired with biometric scanning. What biometric technologies are now being fitted into smart homes?

Facial recognition

Welcome facial recognition camera

At CES 2015, Netatmo unveiled Welcome, an HD smart home camera that uses facial recognition to determine whether or not members of the family are the ones at home. Welcome learns the identity of each member of the family and even notifies family members who is at home via a smartphone app notification. Since the device is able to identity family members, it can also let you know via a notification if a stranger is in your home.

“[This] technology makes today’s smart homes even smarter. Welcome addresses two major consumer needs: to know when their loved ones are home and to be aware if a stranger breaks into their residence,” said Fred Potter, CEO and founder of Netatmo, in a Planet Biometrics article.

Fingerprint scanning

Invixium Inc. and Control4 Corp. announced a partnership that will make Invixium’s fingerprint scanners available on Control4’s Marketplace by the end of March 2015. This partnership will make Invixium’s fingerprint biometric devices, the Mycro, Sense and Touch, available to Control4 Dealers and help users select the better option for their homes.

Invixium’s fingerprint biometric devices were developed on the Android operating system, allowing for quick adoption of features native to the Android platform. The integration of Invixium to Control4’s smart home system allows it to profile and further personalize the automated system and only give access to enrolled users. A touch of your finger can activate lights, audio equipment and other connected appliances with the actions depending on the user profile.

This device can be installed at the entrance of homes, offices and individual rooms to allow entry without the need for keys, PINs or passwords.

Voice control

Voice control allows for the use of mobile devices hands-free, which is especially useful while driving. This is also great for controlling devices at home with the use of devices like the HouseLogix’s VoicePod, which has built-in microphones and speakers that allow homeowners to interact with connected devices just by speaking.

It can control your TV, music, radio, lights, thermostats, shades, locks, security and other connected things in your home, as well as get spoken weather reports and temperature readings on demand and get alerted when there’s a door opened, sensor tripped or unusual changes in the temperature.

Photo source: https://www.netatmo.com/en-US/product/camera