2014 could very well be the year home automation comes into its own.

One writer in his blog listed six good reasons he believes 2014 is the break-away year for home automation.  But what impact will that have on homeowners in general?

First, the marketplace changes dramatically when people go beyond having heard of a technology to actually grasping what it is AND its benefit!  Due to mass marketing, people have seen commercials about being away on vacation and remember they didn't change their thermostat settings, so the actor in the commercial simply does so on his phone.  Or else its the one where they can't remember if they locked the house and--again--casually do so on their phone or tablet.  As a result, the public is beginning to understand that is an example of what home automation (AKA smart homes) is about.  John Q. Public, therefore, now gets both what home automation is and also why it can add security to our lives.  Smart technology is found in our phones, homes and even cars (see our post on smart car technology here!).

Second, as people are understanding the value of home automation, they realize its something they want for themselves.  Remember in the early days of the internet when travelers wanted internet access in their rooms and had to pay a small fee for it?  Hotels quickly learned they could entice guests with "free wi-fi access."  That's because they understood the value of offering that amenity to their guests.  Before you knew it, it seemed wi-fi was everywhere.

That might be just how home automation takes off.  What has been a growing technology in recent years may just about mushroom into popularity the way desktop computers gave way to laptops and tablets

Anyone who's ever had a newborn sent to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) knows all too well the anxiety that goes along with such an event.  For the mother in particular, her strong natural urge to bond with her baby is interrupted and limited by her baby's need for specialized medical attention.

One of the most basic desires for the mother is to be able to reassure her baby that she is not far away.  But in NICU, that can be extremely difficult to do.  She knows her baby is in a totally foreign surrounding absent of anything to remind her child of his or her mother.  Unless the hospital is equipped to house mother and child together there will be a great deal of time in which they are separated.  But perhaps technology can help!

Mommy’s Hear™ is a device designed to allow mothers to both see and speak to her baby while in NICU.  With technology borrowed from remote access security systems, this device is located right at the baby's incubator so the parents and family members can see their infant from any remote device like a smart phone or iPad.  This is especially vital in the case of long-term NICU care as with infants born prematurely, for example.

When the parents can't be at the hospital such as while caring for the baby's siblings, the family can talk to their infant at any time, night or day, via the phone or iPad--much like using Skype or FaceTime.  Telling baby "good night," singing a lullaby, or just watching baby awaken in the morning can be so reassuring to newborn and parent alike.

This ability to communicate directly is significant, as recent studies show the introduction of sounds like the mother’s voice reduces cardio-respiratory events common to premature infants.  Not only that, but it can aid in the child’s development while promoting bonding when parents can’t be at the hospital.  And should a family member be a little "under the weather," they can still see and talk to their baby without risking exposing their newborn to infection.