8 Spooky Smart Home Tricks (And Treats) For This Halloween

8 Spooky Smart Home Tricks (And Treats) For This Halloween

The spooky season is officially here, and now is the time to give your Halloween decorations a smart home upgrade. Using the devices you already have, or a few new ones you’ve been wanting to get your claws on, you can spook smarter, not harder. From haunted house sound effects and lighting inspired by your favorite scary movies to spooky surprises around every corner, these Halloween decorating ideas are all about creating tricks and treats with your smart home devices.

1. Choose a Creepy Sound for Your Video Doorbell

The standard Ring Doorbell chime or Google Nest ringtone has got to go for the Halloween season. Instead, choose any of the frightfully fun sounds available for both devices. From bats, ghosts and howls to a creepy laugh, a screeching cat or a creaky door, you can choose the sound that best fits your haunted home. Plus making the switch to a spooky sound is easy to do on both devices.

2. Cue the Haunted Playlist on Portable Speakers

Grab your Bluetooth speakers and move them outside on Halloween. Position a speaker behind some of your larger decorations or hide it in a tree or bush and play scary sounds on repeat throughout the night. If you are in the mood to dance, cue up a haunted playlist that will get visitors moving and grooving as they pick up their trick or treat goodies. From Thriller to The Monster Mash, your Bluetooth speakers will inspire the soundtrack of Halloween.

No time to create devilishly fun tunes? Devices like Echo Dot and Google Nest Minis already have haunted soundtracks ready to go. Move the devices around your home or hide them outside in your Halloween decor. When you’re ready for the music, simply say “Alexa, play a Halloween playlist” or “Hey Google, get spooky.” The music will play until you tell the devices to stop.

3. Gather Around for Spooky Stories on Alexa

Get the whole family ready for Halloween with a few spooky stories with the help of your Amazon Echo. For a kid-friendly Halloween tale, just say “Alexa, tell me a spooky story” and you’ll hear funny and not-so-scary stories that are perfect for the entire family. However, if you want to spice up the story when your little ghosts and goblins aren’t around, simply say  “Alexa, ask Boo Bot for a scary story,” and you’ll hear a reading from Short Scary Stories from Reddit.

4. A Smarter Fog Machine

Give your outdoor Halloween decor an eerie upgrade by adding a fog machine. Normally you would add “fog juice” and just let the machine run on its own. While the fog creates a ghostly Halloween ambiance, adding a smart solution will make your fog last longer and make the effect more fantastic. Start by using a smart plug to power up your fog machine so you’ll be able to adjust the billowing fog from an app on your phone when trick or treaters arrive or leave your home.

Another option is to attach a motion detector to the fog machine so as people approach your house, the fog will begin to pour out and your visitors will get a fun surprise.

5. Project a Halloween Classic

If you’re hosting a Halloween party, or are just looking for a spectacular show for trick or treaters, projecting a movie onto your house, or a DIY screen, will make your home the creepiest and coolest on the block.

You’ll need a portable smart projector that is positioned outside to project the movie onto your home or garage. Just be sure you have chosen a flat surface without any windows or doors.

You can also create a movie screen by hanging up a white sheet on string or attaching the sheet to the outside of your home. Then, choose a movie from a streaming service like Nextflix or Hulu and let the projector play the movie on a loop throughout the night. Just be sure that the movie you choose is family-friendly if you’ll have little ones joining in on the hauntingly fun night.

6. Create a Spellbinding Smart Light Show

Add some hocus pocus with your smart bulbs inside and outside of your home. From changing the colors of your lights to match your Halloween decor to set the mood for a night of watching scary movies, smart lights will help level-up your home’s spook factor. With the touch of a button, your regular lights can transform into a ghoulish green, possessed purple, or an occult orange. While dark and spooky is a must for Halloween, turning up your smart bulb to the brightest white can also create a startling effect and backdrop for your Halloween setup.

If you want to recreate some of the scary movie special effects, try backlighting your Halloween decor. Start by placing the smart bulbs behind the decorations you already have hanging up and choose different colors to illuminate your monsters, skeletons and witches. Spooky backlighting can be done inside and outside your home, and works best if the area around the decorations is dark. The shadows and light will transform your regular Halloween decor into glowing creatures and leave a frightening effect.

7. Outdoor Smart Plugs that Work Like a Mad Scientist

You’ve done all the work to set up light displays and Halloween inflatables outside of your home. Now make sure they are turned on every night when the sun goes down and turned off before the sun rises and all the monsters head back inside. By plugging all of your outside lights and gear into an outdoor smart plug with a timer, your haunted house will be powered up without you having to press a button.

8. Jazz Up Your Jack-o-Lantern

After carving your pumpkins, you’ll want them to shine on Halloween, but a regular candle isn’t a safe option, especially if you’ve got trick or treaters headed to your home. However, a portable LED light allows you to keep your jack-o-lantern glowing safely every night. You can also change up the colors inside the pumpkin and set a timer on the lights.

Read the article here: 8 Spooky Smart Home Tricks (And Treats) For This Halloween

by Kaleb Hilton

Exploring the Future: AI and Smart Technology for Pets

Exploring the Future: AI and Smart Technology for Pets

In today’s digital world, pet care is rapidly evolving, and AI and smart technology are at the forefront of this transformation. These tools are designed to enhance how we care for our furry friends, providing more effective ways to monitor health, ensure safety, and even entertain pets. Whether you’re a tech enthusiast or a devoted pet parent looking for modern solutions, AI-driven products offer a range of benefits. However, as with any innovation, there are also challenges and considerations. Let’s dive into how AI and smart technology are changing pet care and what this means for you and your pets.

AI and Health Monitoring: The Future of Pet Wellness

One of the most exciting advancements in pet technology is the use of AI for health monitoring. Smart collars and wearables can now track your pet’s vital signs, activity levels, and even sleeping patterns. These devices gather data to give pet owners insight into their pet’s well-being, helping detect early signs of illness or behavioral changes that might otherwise go unnoticed.

For example, collars like the Fi Smart Dog Collar or Whistle Health are designed to track your dog’s location, activity, and overall health in real-time. Using AI, these devices analyze your pet’s daily routines and alert you if there are sudden changes, such as decreased activity or irregular sleeping patterns. This can help prevent health issues from escalating, allowing for quicker interventions with your veterinarian.

Smart Feeders and AI-Powered Nutrition

Nutrition plays a key role in a pet’s health, and smart technology is making it easier to manage. AI-powered feeders can dispense food at scheduled times, ensuring your pet eats the right portions even when you’re not home. What’s more, some smart feeders use AI to track your pet’s eating habits, providing recommendations for portion control and dietary adjustments.

Devices like the Wagz Smart Feeder take this a step further, allowing owners to adjust feeding schedules remotely via a mobile app. Some feeders can even be programmed to account for special diets, making it easier to manage pets with medical conditions like obesity or diabetes.

Smart Toys and AI for Mental Stimulation

Keeping pets entertained and mentally stimulated is essential for their well-being, and AI-powered toys are designed to help with that. These interactive toys can engage pets in play, even when their owners are away. Using algorithms, they adapt to your pet’s play style and adjust difficulty levels to provide an ongoing challenge, preventing boredom.

Toys like the CleverPet Hub use lights, sounds, and rewards to keep dogs entertained and mentally stimulated. This not only reduces boredom but can also help curb destructive behaviors in high-energy dogs. These AI-driven toys are perfect for keeping pets occupied while providing a positive mental workout.

AI Cameras and Pet Monitoring

For pet owners who are frequently away from home, AI cameras offer a great solution to keep tabs on their pets. Devices such as the Furbo Dog Camera or Petcube Play allow owners to monitor their pets in real-time, interact with them via two-way audio, and even dispense treats remotely.

What sets AI pet cameras apart is their ability to recognize certain behaviors. For instance, if your dog is barking excessively or showing signs of distress, some AI cameras can send alerts to your phone. This feature not only helps pet owners stay connected but also ensures their pets’ safety and comfort when they’re alone.

Virtual Fences and GPS Tracking

Safety is a top priority for any pet owner, and AI-powered GPS trackers and virtual fences are game changers in this area. These devices allow pet owners to create virtual boundaries, and if the pet strays beyond these boundaries, an alert is sent to the owner’s phone. GPS tracking also ensures that lost pets can be quickly located and returned home.

Smart collars like the Tractive GPS Tracker offer reliable real-time tracking, which is especially helpful for outdoor pets or dogs that tend to wander. The ability to monitor your pet’s movements at any time provides peace of mind and can significantly reduce the risk of losing your pet.

Challenges of AI and Smart Technology in Pet Care

While AI and smart technology offer numerous benefits for pets and their owners, there are also challenges to consider:

Privacy: With any internet-connected device, there’s always the risk of data breaches. Pet owners should be aware of the potential privacy risks associated with smart collars and cameras.

Cost: Many of these devices come with a hefty price tag, and some require ongoing subscription fees for services like GPS tracking or cloud storage for camera footage.

Battery Life: Devices with GPS and activity tracking require regular charging, which can be inconvenient for busy pet owners.

Read the article here: Exploring the Future: AI and Smart Technology for Pets

by Kaleb Hilton

Prioritize play to help your city thrive in a post-pandemic world

Prioritize play to help your city thrive in a post-pandemic world

We are at a pivotal moment in urban development, facing a housing crisis that affects cities across North America. While addressing the housing shortage is unquestionably critical, we must also remember that cities, especially great cities, are more than shelters.

Cities are the birthplace of inventions, new forms of collaboration and vibrant social interactions. Over the years, much of the social infrastructure that fostered these interactions — such as corner stores, bowling alleys, clubs and bustling main streets — has been stripped away. Therefore, as we work to provide shelter and basic security, we must also rekindle the idea of cities as habitats for the human spirit, laying the foundations for a united, collaborative and flexible society capable of tackling the complex, interconnected issues of our age.

Often, traditional methods of city-building can obscure new opportunities. Perhaps we are now at a point where the erosion of old principles can allow us to leap forward with innovative ideas.

Historically, the relationship between a city and its residents was framed by the Live, Work, Play planning model. This model assumed that these three attributes, in that order, were what people looked for in a potential city. A core pillar of Live was housing and, in North America, home ownership. However, while cities are working diligently to catch up with the housing problem, the underlying causes and the attribute Live are often beyond a city’s control.

Another sign of a weakening city-resident relationship is the post-pandemic shift to flexible work models, especially in the innovation economy. Work is becoming less of a determining factor in where people live. Last year, 35% of workers did some or all of their work at home, according to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics survey, meaning that Work is also an attribute not fully within a city’s control.

These changes suggest that cities are losing relevance in their relationship with residents, potentially leading to an era of mediocre cities. But mediocrity is not sufficient for social, economic and environmental reasons. Cities need to thrive. Anything less will accelerate social isolation and division.

If we move past the old, ineffective priorities, we can see a new opportunity in Play. Traditionally, Play was the afterthought attribute of city building — prioritized last, funded with leftover money and created on land that wasn’t useful for anything else. Given the tenuous state of Live and Work, how a city facilitates social interaction between residents (Play) is now the best way to differentiate its offering and directly improve social and economic prosperity. Moreover, Play is entirely within the control of cities.

Play, as a city attribute, means connecting residents and making them feel they belong. It means celebrating a city’s uniqueness and identity, putting inclusiveness into action, supporting an innovative entrepreneurial ecosystem, fostering trust and compassion, and offering vibrancy that helps a generation often cut out of homeownership feel like fully valued residents of a city.

Practically speaking, Play and the collective joy it creates can help address the housing crisis and other contemporary issues. Joyful cities redefine what it means to live in urban density in a “smaller” home by devoting public space to playful participation. In this model, neighborhoods become the best amenity for a home, and the city becomes everyone’s communal backyard.

Joyful cities are also more competitive in today’s innovation economy, which thrives on ideas, invention and the people who create them. A city’s ability to attract creative talent through vibrant living, collaborative spaces and a lifestyle that blends work and play will determine its economic future.

Despite our efforts to solve the housing problem, cities are unlikely to revert to what they once were. But we can move forward with a Play+Live+Work = Thriving joyful cities prioritization.

It starts with asking, “How do we want our city to play?”

Read the article here: Prioritize play to help your city thrive in a post-pandemic world

by Kaleb Hilton

What Is a Smart Home?

What Is a Smart Home?

The term ‘smart home’ has become an increasingly popular buzzword in the world of home security. Every aspect of our home life seems to become increasingly digitized, with the realm of domotics —a contraction originating from the Latin word ‘domus’, meaning home, and the term ‘robotics’— being front and center throughout this process.

But what does having a smart home even mean and how can homeowners use this technology to increase the peace of mind in their home? Read on to learn more about the nuts and bolts surrounding this increasingly popular term.

What is a smart home?

A smart home is a living space with home automation devices that use an internet connection. Connected devices can communicate with each other and synchronize tasks through a common network. This differs from home automation in general, which can include devices connected through other means such as bluetooth and local networks.

Smart home devices are usually connected through Wi-Fi and are included in the broader term of the Internet of Things (IoT), which includes devices connected through local networks. A smart home can increase the energy efficiency in your home, improve your home security system and make your daily task easier to manage.

History of smart homes

Although we may not think of it this way now, technically, a washing machine is an example of home automation. A task that was once commonly done by hand and took a considerable amount of time and energy was now processed automatically by a machine. In this way, the rise of home appliances in the beginning of the 20th century was the first wave of home automation.

The first main communication protocol for electrical devices, X10, was invented in 1975. The protocol uses power line wiring for signaling and control between appliances and is still widely used today. Modern interest with home automation started in the late 1990s and kept growing as Wi-Fi access and new connecting technologies became more prevalent.

How does smart home technology work?

Smart appliances can synchronize tasks in a specific sequence, known as a routine. These appliances communicate through home automation connectivity standards —technical specifications that ensure devices from different manufacturers can communicate with each other. Some, such as Z-Wave and Zigbee, are available only for specific brands, while the recent advent of Matter as a common standard across companies has gained traction.

Smart home products can also be activated through voice commands, usually with the aid of a voice assistant. The most common of these assistants are Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple’s Siri. Whether operated through a smartphone or a smart home hub, voice controlled assistants help you control multiple appliances at once and start routines that facilitate your daily life.

Examples of smart home technologies

• Smart lighting (such as smart light bulbs)
• Smart thermostats
• Smart home security appliances (such as security cameras)
• Smart locks
• Smart plugs
• Refrigerators
• Dishwashers
• Smart speakers
• Video doorbells
• Washers and dryers
• Ovens
• Sprinklers
• Motion sensors
• Televisions
• Automated garage door openers

Reasons to invest in a smart home system

A smart home can make your house more energy efficient by automating turning off lights at a certain time or optimizing your energy consumption. It can also improve your home security by integrating your home automation system with security cameras and motion sensor technology. This can then be controlled through a central hub or your smartphone.

However, smart home systems also can expose you to security risks in terms of data privacy —some gadgets connected through the IoT lack reliable encryption. Smart homes also need a consistent and reliable internet connection, which is not available in every part of the US. Ultimately, your home’s particular situation and needs are the factors you should consider to determine if smart home automation is right for you.

Read the article here: What Is a Smart Home?

by Kaleb Hilton

Rise in AI Adoption Prompts Global Push for Regulation

Rise in AI Adoption Prompts Global Push for Regulation

In the US, President Joe Biden signed an executive order on AI in October 2023, laying out AI standards that are set to be eventually codified by financial regulators. Over the past five years, 17 US states have enacted 29 bills focused on regulating the design, development and use of AI, according to the Council of State Governments.

In China, President Xi Jinping introduced last year the Global AI Governance Initiative, outlining a comprehensive plan focusing on AI development, safety and governance. Authorities have also issued “interim measures” to regulate the provision of gen AI services, imposing various obligations relating to risk assessment and mitigation, transparency and accountability, as well as user consent and authentication.

Recently, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida unveiled an international framework for the regulation and use of gen AI called the Hiroshima AI Process Friends Group. The group, which focuses on implementing principles and code of conduct to address gen AI risks, has already gained support from 49 countries and regions, the Associated Press reported on May 03.

Impact of EU’s AI Act on financial services firms

The European Union’s AI Act is perhaps the most impactful and groundbreaking regulation to date. Approved by the EU Parliament in March 2024, the regulatory framework represents the world’s first major law for regulating AI and is set to serve as a model for other jurisdictions.

According to Dataiku, an American AI and machine learning (ML) company, the EU AI Act will have considerable impact on the financial services industry and firms should prepare for compliance now.

Under the AI Act, financial firms will need to categorize AI systems into one of four risk levels and take specific mitigation steps for each category. They will need to explicitly record the “Intended Purpose” of each AI system before they start developing the model. While Dataiku says that there’s some uncertainty about how this will be interpreted and enforced, it notes that this indicates a stricter emphasis on maintaining proper timelines than current regulatory standards.

Additionally, the AI Act introduces “Post Market Monitoring (PMM)” obligations for AI models in production. This means that firms will be required to continually monitor and validate that their models remain in their original risk category and maintain their intended purpose. Otherwise, reclassification will be needed.

Dataiku recommends financial services companies to promptly familiarize themselves with the AI Act’s requirements and assess whether current practices meet these standards. Additionally, documentation should begin at the inception of any new model development, particularly when models are likely to reach production, it says.

Moreover, Dataiku warns that the EU’s proactive stance may encourage other regions to accelerate the development and implementation of AI regulations. By 2026, tech consulting firm Gartner predicts 50% of governments worldwide will enforce use of responsible AI through regulations, policies and the need for data privacy.

A groundbreaking regulatory framework

The EU’s AI Act is the world’s comprehensive regulatory framework specifically targeting AI. The legislation adopts a risk-based approach to products or services that use AI, and impose different levels of requirements depending on the perceived threats the AI applications pose to society.

In particularly, the law prohibits applications of AI that pose an “unacceptable risks” to the fundamental rights and values of the EU. These applications include social scoring systems and biometric categorization systems.

High-risk AI systems, such as remote biometric identification systems, AI used as a safety component in critical infrastructure, and AI used in education, employment and credit scoring, are forced to comply with stringent rules relating to risk management, data governance, documentation, transparency, human oversight, accuracy and cybersecurity, among others.

Gen AI systems are also subject to a set of obligations. In particular, these systems must be developed with advanced safeguards against violating EU laws, and providers must document their use of copyrighted training data and uphold transparency standards.

For foundation models, which include gen AI systems, additional obligations are imposed, such as demonstrating mitigation of potential risks, using unbiased datasets, ensuring performance and safety throughout the model’s lifecycle, minimizing energy and resource usage and providing technical documentation.

The AI Act was finalized and endorsed by all 27 EU member states on February 02, 2024, and by the EU Parliament on March 13, 2024. After final approval by the EU Council on May 21, 2024, the AI Act is now set to be published in the EU’s Official Journal.

Provisions will start taking effect in stages, with countries required to ban prohibited AI systems six months after publication. Rules for general purpose AI systems like chatbots will start applying a year after the law takes effect, and by mid-2026, the complete set of regulations will be in force.

Violations of the AI Act will draw fines of up to EUR 35 million (US$38 million), or 7% of a company’s global revenue.

AI adoption surges

Globally, jurisdictions are racing to regulate AI as adoption of the technology surges. A McKinsey survey found that adoption of AI has reached a remarkable 72% this year, up from 55% in 2023.

Gen AI is the number one type of AI solution adopted by businesses worldwide. A Gartner study conducted in Q4 2023 found that 29% of respondents from organizations in the US, Germany, and the UK are using gen AI, making it the most frequently deployed AI solution.

Read the article here: Rise in AI Adoption Prompts Global Push for Regulation

by Kaleb Hilton

SMART reports record North Bay rail transit ridership

SMART reports record North Bay rail transit ridership

Officials of the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit--also known as SMART-- are attributing a record-breaking ridership month to improved accessibility and affordability.

SMART reported more than 80,000 passengers in the month of April alone, marking the highest ridership in one month in the agency's history.

Two recent changes suggest a reason for the spike. In the beginning of April, SMART began offering free fares for anyone under 18 and seniors 65 and older. It also reduced its regular fares by 40% and introduced the on-demand SMART Connect shuttle, which links passengers directly to Sonoma County's Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport.

"This unprecedented ridership demonstrates the immense value SMART brings to our communities," said Eddy Cumins SMART general manager. "SMART offers a greener and more convenient way to travel and is connecting communities and helping to enhance economic development in the region.”

SMART riders eliminated 17.6 million car-driven miles in the past year, according to the agency.

The 45-mile rail system has 12 stations near the airport and in Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park, Cotati, Petaluma, Novato, San Rafael and Larkspur. SMART also manages a bicycle and pedestrian pathway integrated into the Great Redwood Trail, providing first and last-mile connections to the train.

Read the article here: SMART reports record North Bay rail transit ridership

by Kaleb Hilton

Wearable tech: how the human body can help power the future of smart textiles

Wearable tech: how the human body can help power the future of smart textiles

Whether it is a T-shirt that can display changing messages or a carpet that can sense where you are standing, the future of smart textiles has often seemed rooted in science fiction.

Now researchers say they have created smart fibres that can do exactly those things – and they do not even require a battery pack.

Researchers in China say they have created fibre-based electronics that harness electromagnetic energy in the atmosphere, using the human body as part of the circuit.

This makes a “body-coupled” fibre electronic technology that does not need electronic chips or batteries to work and which, the team say, could be used for a host of applications.

“When electromagnetic energy travels through the fibre, it is converted by fibres into other forms of energy, including visible light and radio waves. So, in addition to emitting light, the fibre emits electric signals when touched by [a] human body,” said Chengyi Hou, a co-author of the research from Donghua University, Shanghai.

By controlling various aspects of the system, such as the area of fibre in contact with the body or the diameter of the fibres, these wireless signals can be programmed, Hou added.

“These wireless signals can be conveniently picked up with a coil, and then wireless signals with different characteristics will be ‘translated’ by electronic devices into different commands,” he said, noting that could mean turning the device on or off, or other actions.

The team say the approach removes a key challenge faced when attempting to incorporate electronic systems into textiles: the need for rigid components.

“We have already achieved mass production of this new type of fibre electronics, which is as fine and soft as traditional fibres, so the next step is to apply it to textiles we use every day, such as cloths, towels, carpets and so on,” said Hou.

Among the prototypes developed by the team is a wearable fabric display coupled to a fabric keyboard – which the team say could be used by people who have a hearing impairment to help them communicate with others – and textile controllers for video games.

They also created a wireless haptic carpet that glows underfoot which not only provides a form of emergency lighting at night, but can also wirelessly transmit signals that can be used to control switches on appliances in the home, such as lights.

Writing in the journal Science, the team said that the fibres are composed of three layers, made from low-cost raw materials, and are durable, washable and sweat-resistant.

Writing in an accompanying article, Yunzhu Li, from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Yiyue Luo, from MIT, suggest such technology could also have applications in robots and robotic prosthetics, as well as offer a way to gather tactile information to better understand interactions between humans and the objects around them.

Dr Luigi Occhipinti, director of research in smart electronics, biosystems and AI at the University of Cambridge, also said the approach has potential.

“As we are constantly in the proximity of sources of electromagnetic fields of various nature and with different characteristics, developing new classes of e-textiles that incorporate skin sensors and non-traditional electronics, powered uniquely via fibre-based energy harvesters in contact with our body, could unleash an entirely new class of self-powered wearable electronics for continuous monitoring of personal health,” he said.

Read the article here: Wearable tech: how the human body can help power the future of smart textiles

by Kaleb Hilton

Transforming Smart Cities Into Brilliant, Connected Hubs

Transforming Smart Cities Into Brilliant, Connected Hubs

Alarmingly, 40% of today's carbon dioxide emissions come from buildings. As the net-zero journey advances, smart city planning has evolved to become an international phenomenon, with markers for success driven by sustainable development measures like the widespread adoption of electric vehicles and energy-efficient building technology.

While a “smart city” is what the world strives to achieve for the future of sustainability, there are still breakthroughs yet to be made and it’s fair to say that in today’s fast-paced digital world, cities can push the boundaries of sustainable innovations.

To remain on track with ambitious climate goals such as The Paris Agreement and the Biden-Harris Administration’s Federal Building Performance Standard while embracing a forward-thinking approach to decarbonization, investment in climate-resilient infrastructure must be a prime focus in any smart city development. Also essential for this infrastructure are both physical hardware and digital infrastructure to support electricity supply and demand.

With the rapid advancement of smart grid technology and the proliferation of IoT, cities have the potential to become brilliant.

The question is: How do we define what true brilliance looks like in cities and what are the building blocks to achieve the next level of true sustainability?

The Power of Connectivity 

The transition from smart to brilliant cities first requires building owners to reimagine how their structures operate and interact, shifting to a more IoT-focused approach. Cities are more digitally connected than ever before, and collaborative IoT solutions enable structures to maximize operational efficiency, minimize energy waste and cut spending.

Taking it one step further, IoT systems can enable connected buildings — and the connected devices within those builds — to communicate with other systems, the city grid and even the energy-generating potential of nearby structures to turn the city into a hub of brilliant, intelligent communication.

Additionally, the emergence of new IoT-backed innovations like smart grid technology allows cities to take operations to the next level. Creating a solid building-to-grid landscape enables cities to support the grid while simultaneously future-proofing structures to be more connected and energy-resilient.

Building Grids of the Future

Tapping into the potential of smart grid technology will serve as another key tool in unlocking brilliance in cities.

Rapidly proliferating DERs (distributed energy resources) like solar PV, wind turbines, and energy storage systems often owned by prosumers (residential customers who now contribute energy and reduce demand on the grid) and businesses have taken the energy landscape by storm, impacting all aspects of the electrical grid. DER integration not only supports grid stability and resilience but a cleaner energy transition as well.

However, DERs can present significant challenges and disrupt utility operations if the grid is not well equipped to facilitate the distribution or transmission of electricity in the face of frequency and voltage challenges in the new energy landscape. Today, we have an opportunity to provide proper DER management with sophisticated digital control systems to create virtual power plants (VPPs), which can aggregate and optimize DERs.

VPPs are an aggregation of DERs that enable the grid to offer a stable and reliable energy supply by balancing supply and demand in real time while simultaneously optimizing each asset’s performance. With the rise of DERs, VPPs will play a crucial role in supporting grid resilience.

As a cleaner alternative to fossil fuel-based peaker power plants, VPPs can reduce or eliminate the need to turn on peaker power plants during high-demand periods, thus lowering carbon emissions and contributing to a more sustainable energy system.

Also, VPPs can provide value even in the event of a power outage caused by extreme weather, which can heavily strain the grid. While microgrids, also comprised of DERs, can provide localized power to critical facilities like hospitals and emergency centers, VPPs can provide additional capacity to those still connected to the larger grid and help prevent outages by lowering demand.

Load generation forecasting can also be improved through the utilization of VPPs. Considering factors such as weather patterns and market conditions, VPPs can predict the generation capacity of connected DERs and provide key data points that enable cities to make quick and informed decisions based on criteria such as cost, carbon output, or location-based congestion.

Through increased flexibility and controllability of DERs, VPPs can revolutionize grid operations and turn buildings and cities into connected, responsive, and energy-efficient contributors to the clean energy transition. Brilliant, in other words.

Merging IoT and Smart Grid Technology

The advancement of IoT plays a key role in VPP implementation, making it more efficient and affordable. Through IoT-backed monitoring and analytics, building owners can effectively identify energy patterns and optimize building operations in correlation to the needs of the grid. For example, during summer and winter months when peak load is at its highest, building owners could leverage DERs such as smart thermostats and water heaters to moderate energy consumption, freeing up capacity to support other parts of the grid. Ultimately, IoT devices support smart grid modernization, providing additional flexibility and scale that benefits utilities, businesses and residents.

Unlocking a New Generation of Brilliant Cities

To truly become brilliant, cities must continue to evolve and lean into the latest technologies. By investing in IoT solutions and smart grid technologies such as DERs and VPPs, cities can improve the reliability, flexibility and sustainability of both the grid and individual buildings. Improved forms of connectivity, powered by IoT, will facilitate the transition from smart cities to brilliant cities—and pave the way to a greener future.

Read the article here: Transforming Smart Cities Into Brilliant, Connected Hubs

by Kaleb Hilton