5 pieces of tech to enhance your living room

For many of us, a Jetsons-style home is the dream. Picture stepping through the front door and then never having to lift a finger as your coat is whisked away and dinner is popped down on the table. 

What could be better?

Unfortunately, we’re not quite there yet – but there are ways you can make your home smarter. Here’s how you can use technology to create a futuristic living room.

Samsung FrameTV

Modern TVs are near unrecognisable from their late 20th century counterparts. None more so than the latest from Samsung – the FrameTV. Like the name implies, this is a TV that looks like a picture frame and is light enough to hang on the wall.

Best of all, it can display artwork or photos without using too much power thanks to OLED technology. Pop this one above the mantelpiece and wow guests when the pictures start moving.

Philips Hue Lighting

These light bulbs are what’s cutting edge in the field of home lighting. By using long-life LED bulbs, you can install lights capable of displaying any colour. Want to warm up the room with yellow tones? Easy. Cool it down with blue? No problem.

Perhaps best of all, you can control Philips Hue lights with your phone. Let the pranking begin!

AI assistants

Your very own robot butler (sort of). Smart AI assistants, planted in your home by way of an internet-connected speaker, stand ready to answer your questions, put timers on for dinner and read out the weather.

But what one should you buy? Well, the world’s your oyster when it comes to smart home assistants, but they all have the same basic functions. Google sells the Home unit, Amazon sells the Alexa and Apple is bringing the HomePod to market in 2018.

Smart cameras

Ever get out to dinner and wonder whether or not you left the ranch slider open? A smart camera can help to set your mind at ease – or make you race home.

Smart cameras are essentially internet-connected webcams you can position throughout your home, and you can then access the cameras via a smartphone app.

Wireless speakers

Like smart cameras, internet-connected wireless speakers can fill your home with sound – without the need for a substantial CD or record collection. You simply pick a song on your phone and it starts playing out of the speakers.

You can also connect most wireless speakers to an AI assistant, meaning your favourite song is only a voice command away.

Lift your home game

After more home advice and tips? Check out what’s trending now in the home section of Trends Ideas. You can also see new bathroom and kitchen projects in the Bathroom and Kitchen sections.

Story by: David Renwick