The Present State of Home Automation: A Systematic Literature Review

DOI:10.21742/ijhit.2653-309X.2022.2.1.03

AUTHORS

Ashkan Yaldaie,LUT University, Lappeenranta, Finland

Jari Porras,LUT University, Lappeenranta, Finland

Olaf Drögehorn,Harz University of Applied Sciences, Wernigerode, Germany

ABSTRACT

Since ancient times, people have been trying to make life easier, for example, by bringing water to homes and taking care of wastewater through channelization. With the advancements in technology over the past few decades, people have gained access to smart devices and computerized systems, enabling us to automate tasks. For example, motion sensors help to automatically turn on the lights when entering a building. Also, remote-controlled, voice-controlled, and gesture-controlled devices are becoming smarter and enabling various types of activities. The objective of this literature review is to be a valuable source for software engineers to gain a better understanding of the current achievements in smart home development. This paper explores technological advancements, including the usability and security aspects of home automation. The authors choose four digital libraries to research published case studies related to the selected number of smart home domains. Papers with distinct titles that are written in English and are more than three pages are selected as research material. Furthermore, thematic analysis was performed to extract data linked to the research questions. Most of the chosen case studies are performed in labs. This literature review found that a portion of the current products overlooked the basic security and privacy enhancements in favor of usability or vice versa. The present research concluded that adequate knowledge management has the potential to improve smart home technology. Additionally, developers should not skip any of the three layers of the development architecture (UI layer, communication layer, and software system layer) because each stage is dedicated to addressing existing weaknesses in smart home products. The paper’s findings provide potential solutions for developing better smart home devices in the future.