The future of Housewares is quickly moving T echNology toward the Smart Home. Connectivity IoT Technological Advances and Trends is being incoporated into products all oNSUMer around the home – from light bulbs to C Smart Home Impacts on Consumer Life coffee brewers, from thermostats to ovens – connected products, once only S ecUrity a dream, are fast becoming reality. Staying Secure in a Connected World T reNDS Emerging Trends in the Smart Home D irectory Smart Home Exhibitors Letter from the Editors The Smart Home is Here: What Consumers Want he U.S. smart home market has Lighting— Home lighting plays an Safety— 60% of buyers say they want entered the mass market phase important role in our lives throughout smart home products to help them Tof consumer adoption, and by the day, whether we’re in need of bright monitor their homes via their smart some estimates will approach $40 whites while we’re preparing food in phone. Cameras, video doorbells. 63% billion(USD) by 2020. Americans the kitchen or warm hues while we’re want smart locks and alarms and 56% purchased millions of devices this year, dining. Bulbs that can adjust to the want carbon monoxide detectors. looking to save time, money and task at hand are a bright idea that’s Safety is definitely on the smart home energy. The future of smart home improving the lives of homeowners. buyer’s mind. devices features several emerging Culinary Arts Coming Home— Convenience— Imagine being able to trends, including: Culinary accomplishments once connect to your refrigerator camera to Assisted Cooking— Products are relegated to restaurant chefs with fancy allow you to see inside from the being embedded with smart sensors equipment are now available in the grocery store or never having to place that control exact time, temperatures home. Sous-vide, molecular a coffee pod order because your and even the humidity needed to gastronomy and 3D printed food are connected appliance knows your properly cook a meal. Consumers can some examples. pantry’s “inventory” based on your take a back seat while connected consumption. Voice Control— Voice control has devices use their smarts to help in the exploded in popularity, with many The Internet of Things is on display at kitchen. devices now including Amazon’s Alexa, the International Home + Housewares Home Health— The quality of our Google Assistant and Apple’s Siri. The Show. The IHA Smart Home pavilion indoor air and water, and its ability to ability to control your home by features innovative product suppliers impact our health and sleep, is speaking commands is starting to and developers showcasing products something that consumers are deliver on the promise that we’ll be that demonstrate fresh ideas and becoming increasingly concerned able to control our devices through designs. In addition, a strong about. Devices that monitor and sound rather than touch. educational program further correct poor air and water quality are in showcases trends and technologies demand. surrounding this movement. Don’t miss all the housewares industry has to offer. 2 Table of Contents Home Smart Home ................................................................................................4-6 T echNology Cleaning Up: How Robot Vacuums Work and What’s Next ........................................7-8 Housewares Are Becoming Connected. Is Your Company Ready? ..........................9-11 Speak, Swipe, Smile: How Virtual Assistants Are No Longer Just About Voice ......12-13 Technological Advancements in IoT Transforming the Way Consumers Interact With Their Products ........................................................14-15 C oNSUMer Being Smarter About Smart Home ......................................................................16-17 How to Succeed in the Kitchen Without Really Trying: The Joys (and concerns) Over Assisted Cooking ............................................18-19 Mass-Market Adoption of the Smart Home: Are We There Yet? ..........................20-21 S ecUrity Advancements in Smart Security Creating a Safer Smart Home for Consumers ..22-23 T reNDS Ten Kitchen Tech Trends to Watch for in 2018 ....................................................24-26 Continued Innovation Crucial to Smart Home Device Adoption ............................27-29 What’s Ahead for the Smart Home in 2018 (and Why It Matters for Your Brand) ..30-31 D irectory Smart Home Pavilion Exhibitors ..........................................................................32-38 Smart Home Exhibitor Directory ..............................................................................39 Educational Schedule ................................................................................Back Cover 3 Home Smart Ho me By Michelle Hespe arley Knobloch knows a thing or two about smart homes: CShe’s consulted with HGTV on their annual HGTV Smart Home build for years, and is a regular tech contributor on the Today Show. Her home, a blend of California cool and high tech, was just featured in Good Housekeeping. To Carley, “A truly smart home is as beautiful as it is intelligent — the gadgets fade into the background, and come forward only to © Carley Knobloch add convenience, safety or assistance — you just feel like life is easier.” to the demographic at which they are becoming less expensive, it’s easier There are four trends in Smart Home innovations that Carley feels are aimed,” she explains. “This requires than ever to test things out before prominent right now and believes they that companies be more nimble and something goes to market. “With will develop further in 2018. open to feedback, but the reward is things such as 3D printing and virtual that consumers are invested in your reality, customers can send in ideas to product before it even hits the shelves. brands, and brands can react, Trend 1: Consumer Before this, brands had to cross their prototype and test quickly. Consumers Involvement from the fingers that they got it right—now they might say to a company, ‘I wish your know what the consumer does and product did this or that’, and then Get-go doesn’t want.” It was not long ago that the consumer companies can either embrace that only became involved in a product Carley also says that with prototyping suggestion or not.” when it was released into the market. Once they could buy it, they could rate it, share their experience and offer feedback to the company that created it. Today, with tools like Kickstarter, Indiegogo and GoFundMe, Carley explains that brands involve consumers with the product from the beginning, when concepts and innovations are being formed and prototypes are being experimented with. “More and more consumers want to be involved in the development of products, and essentially it means that the end-results are precisely targeted 4 We speak with Carley Knobloch, a smart home expert and consultant, about four trends that she Trend 2: Subscriptions & the re-ordering for you,” Carley says. “Your coffee maker will know when expects to gain Replenishments you’ve run out of pods and BOOM! traction in The next trend that Carley speaks They’ll turn up on your doorstep. Auto- technologically about is how more and more replenishment will soon be common; companies are creating products that many big brands will bring this advanced homes have replenishment options; convenience to market soon.” essentially, a consumer subscribes to a during 2018. brand and product, and connected Carley explains that Amazon is the appliances will re-order associated most equipped to move quickly on this, products when the consumer runs out. as their personal assistant Alexa is tied Trend 3: A Mobile The coffee maker is a perfect example. to the massive e-commerce store (as Lifestyle Once upon time, a consumer would compared to Apple’s HomePod or Our phones are with us always, so it’s buy a coffee maker and then buy Google Home), and so it is making no surprise that appliance companies coffee beans or ground coffee to use in many alliances and growing rapidly. their machine. Keurig, Nespresso and are leveraging the power of apps to Carley says it will be interesting to see others revolutionized the entire industry help us control our appliances, and which brands team up with multiple by creating machines that use unique keep us engaged. partners and which ones remain loyal coffee pods, which are re-ordered by “There are many products on the the customer. to one brand. For instance, Whirlpool market that are operated by an app on might create dishwashers that only re- “From taco shells to frozen yogurt your phone. An example is a toaster order dishwashing tablets from one makers, companies have a new that comes with an app, so that you revenue source through replenishment detergent-maker, or they might create can operate the toaster from afar. You along with the sale of their hardware, machines that allow you to re-order the might think why would I need an app and now the machine can actually do detergent of your choice. that turns my toaster on and off?” 5 Home Smart Home continued “More and more consumers want to be Carley laughs. But, if you are busy with a baby in another room and smell the involved in the development of products, toast burning, it’s easy to shut it down and essentially it means that the end- without getting up. results are precisely targeted to the “The Vitamix Perfect Blend Smart Food Scale can help you create the perfect demographic at which they are aimed.” smoothie without having to measure ingredients,” she explains. “Add bananas and the app will tell you when there’s enough. You put ice in, and it tells you when to stop. This kind of knows how to get the outside of the “It’s a miracle!” Carley says with awe. smart product can help people have fish you’re cooking crispy, then reduces “We can talk to our appliances, and success in the kitchen, which reduces the heat to cook the interior perfectly. I they can learn how we like to prepare trips for take-out or restaurant food, so watch and learn.