Detecting the Presence of Electronic Devices in Smart Homes Using Harmonic Radar Technology

Data about users is collected constantly by phones, cameras, Internet websites, and others. The advent of so-called ‘Smart Things’ now enable ever-more sensitive data to be collected inside that most private of spaces: the home. The first step in helping users regain control of their information (inside their home) is to alert them to the presence of potentially unwanted electronics. In this paper, we present a system that could help homeowners (or home dwellers) find electronic devices in their living space. Specifically, we demonstrate the use of harmonic radars (sometimes called nonlinear junction detectors), which have also been used in applications ranging from explosives detection to insect tracking. We adapt this radar technology to detect consumer electronics in a home setting and show that we can indeed accurately detect the presence of even ‘simple’ electronic devices like a smart lightbulb. We evaluate the performance of our radar in both wired and over-the-air transmission scenarios.

From Smart Homes to Smart Cities

The United Nations has set the Sustainable Development Goals that guide a wide variety of programs to build a better and more sustainable future for all. The goals are not only universal but also connected with each other and indivisible. Since cities are hosting more than half of the world's population and held responsible for three-quarters of global energy consumption and GHG emissions, the Agenda 2030 includes city-related goals. Many countries have taken steps towards reducing greenhouse gases and increasing energy efficiency in cities. To achieve that, smart technology solutions have been developed and adapted to cities. Making cities smart should start from the home level because they have the biggest share in cities' energy consumption and GHG emissions. This chapter reveals the potential contribution of smart homes to smart city concepts in terms of energy efficiency and GHG emissions with the help of the bottom-up approach. In addition to presenting an extensive literature review to the reader, it also discusses how smart technologies contribute to citizen welfare.

Smart Homes and Offices

Smart Homes and Offices (SHO) are composed of interlinked components with constant data transfer and services targeted at increasing the lifestyle of the people. This chapter describes about the smart components and how SHO are direct implementation of Internet of Things (IOT). The major paradigm in this chapter is appliances supporting smart aspects of SHO, their applications and change in technology in context of smart Homes and Offices. Here we have also discussed the standardization and personalization of gadgets and how it has been increasing our standard of living. Finally, the chapter focuses on privacy preserving mechanisms, its essence over smart cities, strong architecture related to privacy, preserving mechanism, and various approaches available that can retaliate these issues in a smart city environment.

Older Adults’ Loneliness, Social Isolation, and Physical Information and Communication Technology in the Era of Ambient Assisted Living: A Systematic Literature Review

Background Loneliness and social isolation can have severe effects on human health and well-being. Partial solutions to combat these circumstances in demographically aging societies have been sought from the field of information and communication technology (ICT). Objective This systematic literature review investigates the research conducted on older adults’ loneliness and social isolation, and physical ICTs, namely robots, wearables, and smart homes, in the era of ambient assisted living (AAL). The aim is to gain insight into how technology can help overcome loneliness and social isolation other than by fostering social communication with people and what the main open-ended challenges according to the reviewed studies are. Methods The data were collected from 7 bibliographic databases. A preliminary search resulted in 1271 entries that were screened based on predefined inclusion criteria. The characteristics of the selected studies were coded, and the results were summarized to answer our research questions. Results The final data set consisted of 23 empirical studies. We found out that ICT solutions such as smart homes can help detect and predict loneliness and social isolation, and technologies such as robotic pets and some other social robots can help alleviate loneliness to some extent. The main open-ended challenges across studies relate to the need for more robust study samples and study designs. Further, the reviewed studies report technology- and topic-specific open-ended challenges. Conclusions Technology can help assess older adults’ loneliness and social isolation, and alleviate loneliness without direct interaction with other people. The results are highly relevant in the COVID-19 era, where various social restrictions have been introduced all over the world, and the amount of research literature in this regard has increased recently.