For people with disabilities, being able to draw the curtains, turn on the lights, raise the temperature and lock the door in seconds via smartphone and voice assistant can help reduce dependence on friends, family members and life support. It can therefore be extremely helpful in maintaining independence. The smart home can also avoid having to make renovation to the house - such as turning down light switches.

How does it work?

First and foremost, you'll need a smartphone to be able to control smart home devices.

Connecting to your smartphone

Individual devices can connect to your phone using technology such as Zigbee, Bluetooth or, more commonly, via your home's Wi-Fi network. Those that connect via Wi-Fi can usually be controlled from anywhere in the world, provided you have an Internet connection.

Most devices will come with a dedicated application that will allow you to control them from your phone. These applications are generally available for iPhones and Android devices.

Bridges and hubs

In the case of items such as light bulbs, a single application will usually be able to control multiple items in the home. In more advanced systems, the light bulbs each connect to a separate device (a bridge) which then connects to your phone. This increases reliability and ease of use. If you plan to use many smart home devices in your home and want to control them from a single application, you will need a smart home hub. Hubs are able to communicate with a variety of different products from different manufacturers, which can be useful and avoids having to navigate through different applications.

Smart speakers

Smart speakers, such as the Amazon Echo, Google Home and Apple HomePod, have built-in microphones, making voice commands possible. This often makes them a fundamental part of any smart home. They are activated when they hear their name (Alexa, OK Google, and Siri, respectively, for those mentioned above) and then listen to the commands.

In addition to asking Siri to play your favorite playlist or to warn you when your movie starts on TV, you can ask her to turn on the bedroom lights, turn off the blinds, raise the temperature and even automatically stop cooking your roast after a given time!

This further improves accessibility if you live with a disability. It could even save lives in situations where you can't move around and your phone is out of reach, but you can call and tell the person you are calling to contact the emergency services or a loved one who can help you.

Automation services

It is even possible to make smart home devices automatically behave in a particular way under certain circumstances.

Automation services, such as IFTTT (If This Then That), are linked to the applications that control your smart home devices. These services can trigger an intelligent device to act when a certain condition is met. For example, if motion is detected in the bathroom, turn on the lights.

Just like smart speakers, such controls have the ability to not only enhance the functionality of your connected devices, but they can also save lives. If carbon monoxide is detected, for example, your boiler may shut off automatically, and windows may be ajar.

There are hundreds of applications and connected devices that are compatible with these services, making the possibilities endless. For people with disabilities, the benefits of this technology can make a real difference in everyday life.