This Startup is Trying to Createand Controlthe Internet of Your Home

TIME Living Tech This Startup is Trying to Createand Controlthe Internet of Your Home SmartThings wants to change how people live

NO. 1 THE SMART HOME IS CONSCIOUS

ADJ. AWARE OF YOUR WANTS AND NEEDS

Alex Hawkinsons house knows how to make his day.

As the 41-year-old father of two gets out of bed, the lights flicker on and the air temperature starts to warm. He walks down the stairs, and a Siri-like voice greets him from his Sonos sound system: Todays forecast is By the time he reaches for his mug of coffeeit began brewing automaticallythat womans voice has morphed into an NPR broadcast, and Hawkinson is checking his phone, which will receive a text if his 4-year-old son runs out the front door before breakfast. Should Hawkinson open the liquor cabinet, intentionally or not, his house will object. Isnt it a wee bit early?

If Hawkinson has his way, every family in the U.S. will be living like this within the next decade or so. And it will be largely thanks to his company, SmartThings, which has built a first-of-its-kind platform that allows the objects in your homedoors, locks, lightbulbs, even sprinkler systemsto talk to one another and prioritize your needs. Its only requirements: a smartphone, a $200 starter kit (including sensors and a hub they sync with) and a wild imagination.

Were at the outset of this wave where your home can give you security, peace of mind and more, Hawkinson says. Eventually, everything that should be connected will be connected.

If this narrative sounds familiar, thats because it is: companies have been promising the dawn of the smart homea futuristic dwelling full of gadgets working seamlessly to satisfy your every whimsince the 50s. Yet early efforts failed to deliver because of clunky tech and consumer wariness.

SmartThings, which launched in 2012, has arrived amid a legitimate sea change in home automation. In the past few years, the rise of cloud computing has made it easier than ever to build gadgets that connect to the so-called Internet of Things, meaning they can be monitored and controlled from afar, usually with their own smartphone app. Theres also been an uptick in the production of sensors and devices that enable you to smartify objects that are dumb. (Think plugging a desk lamp into an adapter controlled by your phone, or rigging a door with a motion detector that pings you about intruders.) By 2018, the research firm IHS Technology predicts, people will have installed 45 million smart-home services. Were really starting to see major volume here, says Lisa Arrowsmith, an IHS associate director. Its an exciting time.

But the race to make those gadgets and sensors work together has only just begun. Much as Google and Yahoo created search engines as a way to bring order to the Internet in the 90s, startups and established players alikeincluding Apple, AT&T and Googleare now enabling you to command the Internet of your home. Whoever creates the most compelling platform will not only revolutionize how we live but also command a huge share of whats expected to be a $12 billion annual business within five years.

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This Startup is Trying to Createand Controlthe Internet of Your Home