How smart technology and AI can transform your home
9/3/2024Artificial intelligence is everywhere. It’s in our phones, hospitals, banks, classrooms, shopping, cars, commuting – and AI is now in our homes. Here are some simple ways smart home technology can improve your life and make your space smarter, safer and more efficient.
1. Keep your home safe and secure
AI is making our homes safer with advanced security solutions. Smart home security cameras brands like Dahua, Hikvision and Uniview use AI to recognize and distinguish humans and vehicles and detect unusual activities in your home, like shouting, breaking glass or an intruder, and alert you immediately on your mobile phone.
For homes with elderly members, smart home ‘guardian’ cameras like Sentinare can watch for falls or absences to give you peace of mind.
There’s added benefits of securing and safeguarding your property too. For example, if you protect your home with a 24/7 monitored intrusion alarm, fire alarm or an automatic water shut off, you can benefit from Home Safety Systems savings on BCAA Home Insurance.
Complete a free online BCAA Home Insurance quote or speak with one of our trusted advisors to learn what savings you could be eligible for. For even more tips on securing your property, check out our BCAA Magazine story on smart home security.
2. Upgrade your kitchen
Our appliances are getting smarter, so embrace new smart technology and get your kitchen working for you!
- Smart appliances
Smart refrigerators can keep track of your grocery inventory, create shopping lists and alert you when your food runs low or has gone rotten. AI-powered smart dishwashers select their cycles based on how dirty the dishes are, then adjust the cycle time, water temperature and detergent concentration to improve your energy efficiency. - AI recipes
AI can create recipes based on what little you have in your fridge. Only have a few items left to cook with? You can ask a personal AI-powered kitchen assistant, like DishGen, what to make!
3. Design your home
Interior decorating has never been so easy now you can visualize what the outcome of your hard work and creativity will be.
- Virtual staging
To make your new home look beautiful, use AI as your interior decorator. AI tools like Style to Design, VisualizeAI or Virtual Staging AI can create renders of how rooms in your home will look with new furniture, lights, cabinets, flooring, walls and windows. You can easily make adjustments like changing the couch colour or style of curtains. If you need more inspiration, you can ask the tool to make a room more ‘modern’ or ‘Scandinavian’ – and you’ll be amazed at the instant design ideas you get. - Interior design and landscaping
Try generative AI to create new and unique visuals of your home and save money on interior redesigns, landscaping design, renovations or an entire home build. Generative AI tools like Planner 5D can suggest new floor plans to maximise space. They can create 2D or 3D visualizations of your space so you know where to shift furniture to better your feng shui.
Want to get more advanced? You can use PromeAI to turn your sketches into real architectural plans that match the dimensions of your property. Generative AI is great for inspiration but it’s worth seeking a professional to finalize your plans.
4. Tour your dream home
Real estate agents are using AI to generate virtual 3D tours from photos and blueprints. AI-driven platforms like Matterport, Zillow 3D Home, and Kuula will stitch photos together to create an immersive virtual tour. For the buyer (like you), their virtual tours free you from having to attend every open house in person. You can save the flight or long drive and simply tour the home at your leisure, although it’s worth seeing the home in person before you buy.
Protect your smart home
The savvier you get with AI, the more expensive the value of your home and its contents can become. Be sure to protect your home from the unexpected with BCAA Home Insurance.
BCAA Members save up to 20%*, plus you’ll save 5% in your first year when you buy online (a must if you’re a tech-head!). And if you’ve already embraced new home security and safety technology, you may be able to save even more. Get a free quote today or speak to one of our trusted advisors to learn more!
*BCAA Member savings on insurance products are only available with Basic, Plus, or Premier Membership plans. For full details, please visit bcaa.com/plans. Home Insurance is sold through B.C.A.A. Holdings Ltd. dba BCAA Insurance Agency, a licensed insurance agency, and underwritten by BCAA Insurance Corporation.