The last few years have seen a huge number of innovations aiming to make our homes smarter places.  Whilst many of these have been in areas such as smart-appliances, there has also been some fascinating developments to make the windows in properties smarter.

I’ve written previously, for instance, about a UCL project that is developing a new type of smart window that is capable of cleaning itself, thus considerably cutting cleaning costs for the building managers, whilst also removing a precarious and unsafe profession.

Smart windows

Another startup, called View, has developed a product called Dynamic Glass, which aims to cut down on the glare that we suffer from as sun is magnified by our windows.

They offer connected windows that building managers can program to darken (or brighten) depending on the conditions outside.  It is done via a smart system that tracks the sun using a sensor, which together with information harvested from the web allows us to manage lighting more effectively.

The windows come with their own smartphone app, which allows each window to have a dedicated IP address that plugs them into the network of IoTs and allows them to be controlled independently of each other.

The tint itself is managed via a small electrical current that allows managers to alter the pattern of electrons within the glass, and therefore make it appear more or less opaque.

The company claim that by reducing the loss of heat, they can cut energy bills by up to 20%, with the glass already installed in a number of buildings throughout the US.

Check out the video below to see View in action.

Pulling it all together

Of course, much of the challenge in this area has been in ensuring that individual applications function effectively together.

For instance, I’ve written recently about Sense, which will be capable of detecting the presence of a user and understand their voice and gestures to allow it to predict their behaviors and habits.

For instance, it might be able to predict what lights you’d like turned on or your favorite music at particular times of the day.  It will also use facial recognition software to understand who’s in the house at any time, thus providing a security service.

Or you have the Stanford based startup that is taking this to another level with what it’s referring to as the Brain of Things.  This will see apartments fitted with a whole host of sensors that will not only track what we do at home, but use these insights to adapt to our habits and behaviors.

You sense that the key, therefore, will be in ensuring that innovations like Dynamic Glass function effectively with things like the central heating system in the property.  Time will tell how effective they prove at securing this level of integration.