The Changes After Covid-19
More employers are considering new job patterns as offices gradually return to open after the quarantine. With the spread of the coronavirus, the number of employees working once a day at a remote location has nearly tripled, now about 30 percent (Hensvik et al., 2021). More than half believe that working remotely is more productive than staying in the office. Before the pandemic, one in five was constantly stressed, but now there is 15 percent. At the same time, no one hides the disadvantages; almost every other lacks a clear separation between work and personal life. Facebook and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern joined supporters of the move to more flexible work arrangements after the global quarantine (Hensvik et al., 2021). Thus, there was a need to organize the workplace in the post-pandemic era, which is why the smart home is the solution to this problem.
The Smart House
Smart home technology is considered an automated system of functioning all devices and appliances. It includes many devices that can independently perform established functions around the house, providing comfort and convenience. For instance, a smart home has microclimate regulation and temperature and humidity level control. Therefore, the employee will not be distracted from work because of the uncomfortable temperature. At the same time, automatic lighting changes the brightness and color scheme throughout the house, creating a dimmed diffused light and other options at will. Accordingly, the smart home can adapt to the needs of the working person (Voumick et al., 2021). Hence, the light will always be comfortable and not contribute to visual impairment due to operating a computer.
It is important to note that the automated operation of appliances in the kitchen, specifically the multicooker, coffee machine, kettle, or oven, will allow you to solve household problems quickly. Thus, a person will not need to be distracted by household chores and will be capable of functioning to the best of their ability. Another advantage of a smart home is that it monitors safety with cameras and sensors (Voumick et al., 2021). Thus, it prevents emergencies such as fire, smoke, and others. Usually, the employee does not control this factor; there are security guards and a safety officer for that. Therefore, it is crucial that when operating at home, the person’s safety and health are ensured.
Significantly, it is easy to manage a smart house if there is an emergency. This is because the complex system of smart house equipment is considered a fully automated control of devices in any room. At the same time, it is possible to control separate blocks. It can be performed by pressing a button on the panel and remote or voice transmission of the command through the application via phone or tablet. It is possible to set individual parameters for controlling the house according to personal desires, needs, and capabilities (Voumick et al., 2021). Accordingly, if there is an emergency, the person operating the house can solve it at the touch of a button and continue to complete their work tasks.
The smart home of the future provides care for its owner around the clock, using more accurate sensors than smartphone alarm clocks to determine the appropriate phase of sleep for awakening. A smart mattress that monitors and records a person’s sleep parameters: body temperature, muscle activity, and several awakenings assist. Thus, the mattress detects that it is time for the person to wake up for work. Voice commands control the shower in the “smart house” of the future. It is enough to say, “50 degrees, massage mode,” and the shower sets the necessary water temperature and intensity of the pressure by itself. Accordingly, even the furniture in such a house contributes to making a person feel healthy and happy due to better performance. Moreover, an automated massage chair is designed to relax a worker when he becomes exhausted from sitting in one pose for several hours (Voumick et al., 2021). In this way, the smart home as a whole promotes remote work and provides comfort.
The future smart home has a fully functional home theater, high-resolution projectors, monitors, tablets, game consoles, virtual reality glasses, and other gadgets. Similar to other smart home elements, they are networked together and can be controlled by voice. Streaming services and subscriptions will turn a smart home resident from a passive consumer of information into a real hunter for the most topical movies and TV shows. Thus, the employee does not need to stand in traffic jams to go to the movie theater and then home even after the workday (Voumick et al., 2021). If a person works remotely, a smart building will provide a comfortable workplace and services for entertainment.
References
Hensvik, L., Le Barbanchon, T., & Rathelot, R. (2021). Job search during the COVID-19 crisis. Journal of Public Economics, 194, 104349.
Voumick, D., Deb, P., Sutradhar, S., & Khan, M. M. (2021). Development of online based smart house renting web application. Journal of Software Engineering and Applications, 14(7), 312-328.