Digital connectivity in smart homes and big data in smart cities

Ideally, smart homes and smart cities are designed around the people who live in them, and exploit big data and other advances in technology to reduce stress and waste while increasing choice and comfort. They should, in the words of urban design guru Carlo Ratti, have a "liberating effect".

In the future city that Singapore experts envision, big data is not a disruptive force but a process of incremental, technology-enabled change that smooths the average citizen's day. Those who live in a smart city might find the temperature at home just right thanks to smart air-conditioning. As they head off to work, smartphone apps keep them updated on traffic conditions. 

Read more: http://www.straitstimes.com/tech/smart-cities-smoother-lives

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