Abstract:
Smart homes include computing and information technology in order to predict and respond to the inhabitants’ needs. While these smart home technologies have been around for a long time and their usage has many advantages, smart homes are not yet widespread. This, thesis, therefore attempted to find out if smart homes have already failed or if they will still have a future, because of changes in society as well as new technology developments which could potentially influence smart home adoption. In the past, there was only little attention paid to needs of potential customers, although they are a crucial part for the adoption to occur. Therefore, a framework was developed which focuses on peoples’ experiences and wishes. In order to get to know these experiences and wishes a survey was conducted. As a result of the survey, the answers of many people could be taken into account. This survey helped to find out why smart homes have failed so far and to understand what needs to be done in order for smart homes to succeed in the future. The survey findings were matched with upcoming social changes and technology developments which could potentially influence smart home adoption. These changes and developments were found in relevant literature as well as official statistics. The results of the analysis show that there are a number of problems regarding smart homes. On the other hand, there are also a number of changes in society and developments which are able to address many of these problems, because they could either improve smart homes or change peoples’ attitude towards smart homes. Because smart homes are very complex, these changes and developments are not able to solve all the problems. However, it is very likely that they will positively influence the rate of adoption of smart homes in the future.