Interoperability: The Future of Smart Appliances

Years ago, a fridge with a display screen popped into the market, providing a glimpse into the future of smart appliances. Unfortunately, internet connectivity was not an option at the time, so the only function of the screen was to adjust the controls. But how often do you change the settings of your fridge? As you can imagine, the product was never accepted by the market, because it didn’t offer sufficient value to the customer.  

Smart appliances — in fact, all connected devices — are at a crossroads. 

It is no secret that consumers aren’t fully mesmerized with smart appliances — yet. Until recently, they weren’t willing to pay extra for connectivity; however, the price of connecting devices has decreased enough that the functionality comes whether the consumer wants it or not. So, how will today’s trends affect the future of smart appliances? 

While connectivity may be an expected feature in today’s appliances, manufacturers have had a tough time explaining its benefits to consumers. This is primarily because solution providers have struggled to manage the back end of connectivity. As appliances become more connected, device manufacturers uncover new challenges. According to Jabil’s 2023 Smart Home Technology Trends survey of 202 IoT device decision-makers, 63% percent of IoT device OEMs believe easy and reliable connectivity is most important to the success of their solutions.

Download the survey report.

The Jabil survey also reveals that 68% of the participants face challenges in developing connectivity for their solutions. This is a double-edged sword. Appliance manufacturers want to provide the right type of experience to consumers, but they want data from these connected devices to guide them in that endeavor. This is where things get tricky.

All solution providers plan to use data generated by their connected home and building solutions in some way. Most notably, manufacturers say they will use the data to: 

• Identify and solve problems with devices before they fail 
• Understand use models to guide product development 
• Provide reports to end-users 

This may all be well-intentioned and harmless, but consumers aren’t typically aware of the data that manufacturers are collecting from these connected devices.  

Connected Appliances: An Experiment 

In an April 2018 TED Talk, journalists Kashmir Hill and Surya Mattu shared the results of an experiment on what smart devices know and share about consumers. The main question: once your appliances can talk to you, who else are they going to be talking to?  

For the experiment, the team transformed Hill’s apartment into a smart home. They connected everything to the internet — the fridge, the television, and even toothbrushes. Mattu installed a special router to examine and analyze network activity for two months. 

In those two months, there wasn’t a single hour of digital silence in the apartment. Mattu could tell exactly when the family went to bed and woke up, what TV shows they enjoyed watching and for how long, and how often they brushed their teeth. Even when Hill went on vacation for a week with her family, the in-house activity was nonstop. 

“You give up a little privacy, and you get some convenience or some price breaks in return,” Hill said, adding, “But that wasn’t my experience in my smart home. It wasn’t convenient; it was infuriating.” While she enjoyed amenities like the smart vacuum, other things in the house drove her insane. They ran out of electrical outlets, had to download a dozen apps to control everything, and had to use brand-specific terminology to tell their voice assistant to start the coffee maker.  

"We need the companies to rethink the design of these devices with our privacy in mind, because we’re not all willing to participate in market research, just because a device we bought has a Wi-Fi connection,” Hill explained. It is easy to assume that consumers relinquish some privacy when purchasing connected devices, but is it fair for them to constantly have their data mined? Even anonymously?  

This experiment alone displays many of the challenges that solution providers are facing today.  

All Roads Lead to Interoperability 

We are already starting to witness the future of smart appliances. Today, these appliances are starting to connect with a suite of products. For example, if your thermostat is aware that you are not home, it can enable your dryer's wrinkle-guard, so your clothes don’t wrinkle. This level of device-to-device communication is propelling the success of smart appliances and, ultimately, the future smart home. Data exchange between devices will enable new levels of convenience in and out of the house.  

In the journey toward interoperability, IoT protocol will be essential for connected devices. Therefore, it is no surprise that 97% of participants in Jabil’s survey are planning to integrate Matter — the new IoT device interoperability standard that is at the forefront of new smart home solutions development. Officially released in October 2022, Matter was developed by the Connectivity Standards Alliance and is being adopted by the biggest players in the IoT space, including Amazon, Google, and Apple.  

Nearly three-quarters (73%) of respondents in Jabil’s survey said they expect Matter to be fully integrated in their product portfolio within the next year. I think this may have been a bit of an optimistic view, and some respondents may have taken an industry-wide view on the question rather than a company-specific one.