我们大多数人都遇到过这种情况：你正赶去和朋友共进晚餐，却忽然想起，“我刚刚关掉熨斗了吗？”。然而，对于拥有“智能家居”的人来说，这点小事根本不会让他们整晚都坐立难安。
Over the last few years, smart home technology has become more prominent and is now more affordable than ever. Thanks to user-friendly products such as intelligent lighting, heating controllers and motion *sensors, being able to control nearly every electrical item in your home from anywhere in the world is no longer confined to science fiction stories.
在过去的几年间，智能家居技术日渐突显，如今在价格上也比以往更加经济实惠。由于智能照明设备、加热控制器、运动传感器等人性化产品的出现，在世界上的任何一个角落控制家中几乎所有的电子设备，不再仅仅出现在科幻故事当中。
“All of our light switches are controllable via our phones and computers. Our home security system, our TV and our heating and cooling controls are all linked together too,” says Mike Poulson, 35, a senior program manager from Seattle, US, whose high-tech home even greets him and his family when they enter.
“我们生产的所有照明开关都能通过手机和电脑进行操控。我们的家居安防系统、电视、以及制冷制热控制系统都关联在一起，”现年35岁的高级项目经理迈克·波尔森表示。 在他位于美国西雅图的家中，高科技家居设备甚至还能在他和家人们进门时欢迎他们。
While smart home tech isn’t new–the concept has been around for decades–companies like Philips, with its Hue lighting technology, as well as Amazon and Google, which have recently released speakers that control the home with the help of AI (artificial intelligence), are finally putting home automation into easier reach of everyday people.
尽管智能家居技术并不是个新鲜事 —— 这一概念已经出现了几十年 —— 但各家企业如今才令家庭自动化对于老百姓而言更为触手可得，如飞利浦的Hue照明技术，亚马逊和谷歌近期也推出了用以控制家居设备的人工智能音箱。
“The obvious message to consumers is that you can stop wasting energy,” Tom Kerber, director of research for US-based digital analysis firm Park Associates, told The Guardian.
“给予消费者们很直白的信息是：你能停止浪费资源，”美国数据分析公司Park Associates 的研究总监汤姆·克贝尔在接受《卫报》采访时表示。
“Automation gives you an opportunity to *optimize the settings.”
“自动化给了人们优化设置的机会。”
And while being able to automate tasks like having the kettle boiled and ready when you wake in the morning leaves time to focus on other tasks, the technology has more meaningful uses.
尽管该技术能够完成一些自动化的任务，比如，在你早晨醒来时准备好一壶烧好的开水，这也令人们有时间去专注于其他事情，但这一技术还有更有意义的用途。
In Norway, for example, one company is using smart tech to make life easier for its elderly customers. The firm, Abilia, has designed a system that allows carers to check up on patients through a Skype-enabled tablet that’s mounted on a wall inside their homes.
比如， 挪威的一家公司正运用智能技术令老年消费者的生活更加简便。这家名为Abilia的公司设计了一个系统，通过安装在（病人）家中墙上的平板电脑，护理人员能够与病人进行网络通话，查看情况。
Taking care of ourselves
照顾好我们自己
The device, which also sends patients spoken reminders about tasks, such as when they need to take medication, is even connected to a series of sensors which alert carers if there’s any unusual activity in the home that could be potentially life-threatening.
这一设备还能给病人们发送语音任务提醒，如他们什么时候需要吃药。此外，它还连接了一系列传感器，如家中出现了可能危及生命的不寻常状况，就会向护理人员发送警报。
“With this kind of system, it allows people to take care of themselves, which is the most important thing,” Abilia’s vice president, Oystein Johnsen, told the BBC.
“有了这样的系统，人们就能够照顾好自己，这是最重要的事儿，”Abilia副总裁奥伊斯坦·约翰森在接受BBC采访时表示。
“It also saves the government money. In Norway, it costs 1 million *kroner (824,000 yuan) per year to have someone in a [care home]. This system costs 15,000 kroner a year.”
“这也节约了政府资金。在挪威，在（护理院里）照顾一位老人每年就要花费100万挪威克朗（约82.4万人民币）。而该系统一年才花费15000挪威克朗。”
So, for those who have already “gone smart”, would it ever be possible to go back to doing things the old-fashioned way?
所以，对于已经“走向智能”的人们来说，还有可能回到过去，用一些老办法干事吗？
“I think it would be difficult. When we go to a friend’s house or on vacation we find ourselves expecting the house to do things for us that ours does. It’s not the end of the world but just annoying that things don’t work as expected,” Poulson explains.
“我认为这会很困难。当我们去朋友家里或者出门度假时，我们发现自己会希望别人的房子也能像自己家的一样，能为我们做很多事。这并非是世界末日，但很多事并不如我们所愿会令人感到心烦，”波尔森解释道。
“It would be like going back to a world without cell phones. Not impossible, just different.”
“就像是回到一个没有手机的世界。不是不可能，而是相当不同。”
