Technology for the most part makes our lives easier. There have been advances in the area of our homes. If you’d like to know what type of advances are being made then you’ve come to the right place. We hope you enjoy these advances as much as we do!

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From the article:

We’ve long been fascinated by the idea of the house of the future. In 1956, MIT researchers tested plastic homes — it’d be a cinch to hose them clean, wouldn’t it? — while Goodyear researchers worked on air-bubble domiciles a few decades later [source: Ngo]. Neither one panned out, of course. But the concept of the “house of the future” wasn’t just structural. It also encompassed all of the new technology that would lie inside: video chatting instead of rotary-dial phones, robots to do our housework, and a few buttons we could push to control just about everything.

Alas, our homes still aren’t the technological wonders we’d dreamed about. But we certainly have made some advances. Think of amenities like central vacuum, in-home stereo and programmable thermostats. Not sexy enough? Then read about five truly exciting home technologies that are either available now or in development, meaning they all have a real chance of becoming commonplace.

Power Tracking
Did you ever wonder why we’ve long had smart technology in our cars, but not our homes? Think about it. If you’re low on gas, your car tells you. If your tire pressure is low, your car tells you. If you’re short on oil, need to check your engine or are out of windshield wiper fluid, your car tells you. All of this information helps keep your car healthy, and you safe. It also saves you money by taking preventive measures and avoiding costly repairs. But what does your home and its major appliances tell you? Nothing. Powerhouse Dynamics, for one, wants to change this.

The Maine-based company has unveiled the Total Home Energy Management program, which monitors a home’s energy use, energy cost and carbon footprint every single minute. Thanks to its detailed tracking, the system can tell you when your energy use spikes and why, allowing you to moderate consumption. It also monitors your appliances, letting you know when maintenance is needed so you can avoid pricey repairs, and even cluing you in when an appliance is so old and energy-inefficient that it’s cheaper to chuck it and buy a new one. And new features are constantly being added as the company identifies and addresses the needs of its customers . For example, when the defrost cycle in a customer’s refrigerator wasn’t working properly, the system was modified to provide an alert.

Home Security Through Facial Recognition Software
Lots of movies today feature businesses and governmental entities with facial recognition software in place, usually to keep unauthorized personnel from accessing areas with highly-classified information and priceless goods. Eventually, many of us may be able to install this software in our own homes. Why would we want to? Video cameras at our doors could identify our family and friends, plus strangers. If a stranger does ring our doorbell, the system could then immediately run the person’s mug against all the faces in our criminal and terrorist databases, so we don’t let in some really bad dude [source: Future Technology Portal]. Of course, sometimes a family member or friend turns out to be a bad guy.

There are numerous companies currently working with facial recognition software, for both business and personal use. When and if it becomes widely available isn’t yet known. Android currently has a face-unlock feature in its Android 4 operating system, aka Ice Cream Sandwich. But if you hold up a photo of the authorized user, it can be fooled [source: Bonnington]. So, it seems we have a ways to go on this one.

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Read the entire article here: http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/future-tech/5-future-home-technologies.htm/printable