tEch tAlK
“iMAginE thAt your pAntry And your rEfrigErAtor CAn bE dEsignEd to Know And undErstAnd how MuCh produCt you hAVE, And how MuCh you nEEd to CooK your EVEning MEAL.”
way to reduce the risk is to stay with name brands like Kohler, Samsung, GE Monogram. These companies have security protocols in place. But the consumer needs to take responsibility as well, by creating secure passwords. Reading the instructions and agreements is also key. Some appliances are defined to be communicating all the time. Herd advises consumers to turn those defaults off, and always choose the highest privacy settings. According to Herd, this is only the beginning. “Today we have a lot of the techy gadgets. Tomorrow, we will be incorporating artificial intelligence. Imagine that your pantry and your refrigerator can be designed to know and understand how much product you have, and how much you need to cook your evening meal.” He continues, “Then imagine that you want to make a rice dish but you are out of rice. Your pantry sends a list to your grocery store, and the ingredients are delivered in time to prepare your meal.” He says, “Technically, what we are living through now is called the ‘digital transition.’ As we go forward, more things are going to be smart-equipped. We are at a stage now where humans and technology are evolving together.”
But the countertop items are just the tip of the iceberg. Smart refrigerators, stoves, and dishwashers are now commonplace. Even kitchen faucets have joined the lineup. A smart dishwasher or kitchen faucet can be equipped with leak detectors. Herd says, “I have kids. If the kitchen faucet is running for a long time, I get a notification. likewise with the dishwasher, if there is a leak, I’m getting pinged. These are really effective ways to incorporate smart technology.” Another place that smart technology advances are impacting kitchen design is in the lighting category. In a large kitchen there might be five or six sources of light: inside and under cabinets, task lighting, pendants, ceiling lights. Without smart technology, those lights would be controlled individually with a lineup of wall switches. Says Herd, “Now you can centralize all the lights on one small keypad. It looks good, and it’s easy to manage. This will impact kitchen design in a positive way.” But, what about hacking? It’s a topic that is on everyone’s mind. Says Herd, “Basically there are two rules. Anything that can be connected will be connected. And anything that can be hacked, will be hacked.” One
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