Back to the Future– Smart Homes for Today Meet George Jetson… BY MELONIE MAGRUDER his boy Elroy… nd with that zippy theme song, anyone who grew up in his daughter Judy… the 1960s watching the animated primetime comedy, Jane his wife! A“The Jetsons,” saw what our future could come to offer: traveling sidewalks to deposit us in our ready-to-zoom, private, flying cars; ovens that, with a touch of a button, produce three-course meals complete with candlelabra; robot housemaids named Rosie; video chats on your wristwatch. The future was to be one of instant convenience when it came to creature comfort, even though a demanding boss and a cheeky, spendthrift wife would still be part of the picture. Fifty-plus years later, our “smart home” now tells 40 | MALIBU TIMES MAGAZINE | #MALIBUTIMESMAG Back to the Future– Smart Homes for Today us when to awaken, adjusts the ambient temperature to time to dry my hair? People’s lives are so busy, they need those welcome us home and powers our entire domicile with extra minutes that design convenience can provide daily.” sunlight. MTM checked out some of the new gadgets you can Among Gould’s favorite new futuristic gadgets is the find on the market, designed to make your life and home an Samsung Family Hub Refrigerator or Smart Fridge. “It tells easier universe to navigate. you when you are low on milk or your orange juice is about to Eileen Gould of Eileen Gould Design and Construction in expire,” she said. “It’s crazy, the technology.” Westlake Village takes on projects that range from $30,000 Gould also installs a lot of time- and space-saving design kitchen facelifts to $10 million foundation-up dream homes. features. She puts electrical outlets in drawers so hairdryers She said that with the current generation of clients, home are instantly ready to blow and electric toothbrushes don’t design is all about one thing. clutter up counters. “Everybody is about time,” Gould said. “How much time Therefore, Gould said that many of the technological will it cost me to go to the store? How much time to cook improvements are designed with the idea that one can grow dinner? How much time to cool down the house? How much old along with one’s house. SPRING 2018 | 41 Today, “smart home” gadgets can power our entire domicile from sunrise to sunset. Items such as (pictured clockwise from top left) the Braava Jet Mop, which auto-mops about 100-square-feet per hour, the RS630 Robotic Lawn Mower that decides to mow based on weather, the Samsung Family Hub Refrigerator that tells you if you are low on milk, Kohler’s digital showering system that regulates water temperature and Amazon’s Echo that coordinates all your gadgets and will even read you a book, are just a few of the latest and greatest. “The Baby Boomers are saying, ‘I never want to not tap an icon on your phone, and you can set an hour for live in my house,’” she said. “So we factor in making homes automatic illumination, whether on a regular basis, or American with Disabilities Act compliant.” whenever you are pulling into your driveway. This means: home elevators, doorways and halls widened Similar systems allow owners to check in on their pets to 48 inches to accommodate wheelchairs, and heated floors or turn on the air conditioner. The ecobee3 installs a clean to sooth arthritic feet in the winter. touchscreen with a remote sensor that can heat or cool rooms A feature of growing importance in home design is to individual preference. The newest version has Amazon’s security. Sophisticated alarm systems are de rigueur. The Alexa already built in, so you can simply ask her what kind of product Ring offers efficacy in this realm. Once installed weather to expect while dressing in the morning. at your front door, a camera views anyone approaching Kitchens are breeding grounds for new gadgets. Most and alerts the owner by phone or computer. You can even everyone has seen the YouTube video of cats riding the respond to a doorbell on your phone by remote with, “Just Roomba automatic vacuum cleaner that is so smart, it knows leave the package at the door, thank you.” Big Brother how to find its way back to its own charging station. But might always be watching, but safety brings comfort to there are also auto-moppers like the Braava Jet Robotic Mop. homeowners. About the size of a shoebox, this baby robot will mop about Another device with remote advantages is Switchmate—a 100-square-feet in an hour. Roomba also has a robot for $39.99 gizmo you snap on to your light switch in one second, cleaning windows, shower walls and even tiles. 42 | MALIBU TIMES MAGAZINE | #MALIBUTIMESMAG Additional smart home devices (pictured clockwise from top left) include the MirroCool Smart Mirror that uses gestures like a wink to alert you of traffic jams, the Nest Protect Smoke Detector to sniff out smoke and carbon dioxide and the Ring Security System that allows you to respond to the doorbell from a phone. Within Gould’s designs, she adds microwaves that screen touch, set to your preferred comfort level. fold under kitchen island counter tops and hidden coffee But the (soon-to-market) MirroCool Smart Mirror makers that appear at the push of a button. Stovetop Safety Personal Assistant is truly Jetson-esque. This two- Smart knobs can be a life-saving feature. The smoke and gas dimensional butler uses face recognition and gestures like detector in the knobs has a built-in motion sensor. When it a wink to let you know of the traffic jam on the 101, display senses smoke or notices that you have been away from the your emails and daily calendar, give you a stock market stove for too long, it will automatically shut off the heat. update and even allow you take a selfie while you brush Amazon’s second generation Echo is sort of an all-in- your teeth. one home assistant. She’ll tell all your smart home gadgets Those who have lived in Malibu long enough to respect how to organize your day, read you audiobooks, check on the dangers of wildfires will appreciate the Nest Protect the weather, buy your dinner online through Blue Apron Smoke Detector. Not only does it sniff out smoke and carbon or Gobble and, if nothing else, give you pretty good speaker monoxide, it will tell you if you have a slow or fast-burning sound quality as you sing in the shower. fire in any room of your house. Speaking of showers, la toilette has become the new day The Chamberlain MYQ garage door opener just needs spa. You can install phones in your shower and a bar above a tap on your device screen (phone or iPad) and your your bathtub. Kohler makes a digital shower interface that garage door will open from anywhere. On the horizon allows you to regulate water temperature with a simple is a geolocation feature for Chamberlain, which will SPRING 2018 | 43 There is a gadget for pretty much every function these days within the household—all controlled by the press of a button: (clock- wise from top left) ecobee3’s smart thermostat to heat or cool; Lutron remote window shades; Switchmate’s lighting device that snaps onto your light switch to turn on/off lights remotely. And the Music City Fire Company offers a fire pit with flames in con- cert with your music that plays through its speakers—plus, it will automatically reignite the flames when the breeze is gusty. automatically open your garage door when you turn in the rose bushes and is equipped with an anti-theft PIN lock. to your driveway and close once you are safely inside … And when you are ready to relax outside in the evening, where you will plug your car into Tesla’s Power Wall for Music City Fire Company can outfit you with a state-of- charging. Gould said Power Walls are one of the more the-art fire pit with flames that not only warm during those popular features in home design with solar panels, for a cool ocean breezes but dance to the beat of the music played cleaner environment and a fatter wallet. through its built-in speakers. Flames are also automatically And should you need a central organizer, Knocki is a reignited if the wind are gusty. touch-based interface station that will perform a number When it’s time for bed, just ask Siri to adjust your of duties, just by the number of taps you give it. One tap will Lutron remote-controlled window shades. Slip onto your turn on your television. Two taps connects with your self- Tempur-Pedic mattress that can elevate ergonomically and adjusting thermostat. Three taps will find your phone that be progrmmed to your desired firmness, while your partner you swear was in your pocket a minute ago. Knocki will even adjusts his or her own side of the bed. Clap your hands let you know if someone is at the front door if you are out and the Clapper sound-activated on/off switch will dim mowing the back yard. the bedside lamp. And, if you just can’t be bothered with That is, if you haven’t yet picked up your own RS630 holding a book, Alexa will read you to sleep with the latest Robotic Lawn Mower, which looks like a sports car for John Grisham audiobook.