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Sydney Morning Herald
21-05-2025
- Sydney Morning Herald
Six exciting advancements coming to a smart home near you
From keeping your family entertained to ensuring everyone is safe and sound, a new wave of technology is set to make Australian homes smarter than ever. Not so long ago, the ability to dim your lounge-room lights without getting off the couch was considered the height of smart-home technology. These days, smart technology is extending to every corner of our homes, working together to create a truly smart home rather than just a collection of smart devices. Keep in mind, many of these new devices and applications tend to be hungry for bandwidth. The average Australian household already downloads seven and a half times more data than it did a decade ago, and this is expected to double again within the next seven years. Uploads are also increasing, predicted to double in the next four years. The desire for speed makes fast and reliable broadband the cornerstone of any Australian smart home. The good news is that nbn is continuing to remove ageing copper wire from its Australia-wide network, offering millions of homes and businesses the opportunity to upgrade to full fibre to their premises. From September, nbn is also accelerating the speeds on its top three residential wholesale speed tiers for homes and businesses with Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) and Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC) connections, without changing the wholesale prices. This means, for example, an nbn 100 plan (Home Fast) will offer five times faster download speeds (500 Mbps) and double the upload speeds (50 Mbps). Fast, efficient broadband means the network can handle not only the 25 connected devices an average broadband home has today, but also the 44 we're expected to have by the end of the decade. Here are six smart home advancements heading your way. 1. Virtual and augmented reality Smart TVs and even smart mirrors are bringing 4K Ultra HD streaming video to every room, but home entertainment is set to become even more immersive thanks to the rise of virtual and augmented reality. A virtual reality headset completely blocks your view of the real world to transport you to another realm, while augmented reality superimposes information over your view of the real world around you — a bit like a fighter pilot's heads-up display.
Sydney Morning Herald
16-05-2025
- Health
- Sydney Morning Herald
What does the internet have to do with your wellbeing? Turns out, quite a bit
'Connecting with others isn't just something we enjoy, it's actually something we're wired to need,' says Rachel Tomlinson, a registered psychologist and clinical manager at digital psychology clinic My Mirror. 'Living in groups once kept us safe and today that need for belonging and strong relationships can still shape our mental and physical health.' Our craving for connection may not have changed much, but the way we go about it couldn't be more different. Whether it's via a video call with your niece on her graduation day, or a quick check-in with your favourite online community for advice on an upcoming kitchen renovation, our interactions with others now happen when, where and how it suits us. And it turns out, that's not just convenient, it's also good for our wellbeing. The power of connection Maintaining strong social bonds can reduce stress levels, give us a sense of belonging and improve resilience, says Tomlinson. There may be physical benefits too, including a lower risk of depression and heart disease. 'Face-to-face interactions tend to have the strongest effect, but online connections are also valuable,' Tomlinson adds. 'The important part is connection and the quality of the relationships, not just the method.' While online relationships can sometimes be dismissed as being shallow or inauthentic, Tomlinson says this is untrue. 'Research suggests that virtual connections can be just as supportive, fulfilling and emotionally rich as offline relationships.' Plus at times they can offer pathways to connection that might otherwise not be possible for people who find in-person interactions challenging, whether due to isolation, anxiety or their physical abilities. 'Our ability to communicate with existing people or find new relationships or communities based around shared interests is easier than ever,' Tomlinson notes. Research commissioned by nbn backs this up, with nine out of 10 nbn users saying they've connected online with friends, family or new people in the past two years. Almost half of them report feeling less lonely or isolated thanks to social connection online. Bridging the health gap For Dr Desmond Graham, a geriatrician, chief medical officer at Geriatric Care Australia and host of the Healthy Ageing podcast, online connections have emerged as a vital contributor to the wellbeing of older Australians. 'When we talk about healthy ageing strategies, we talk about five key areas: nutrition, physical activity, mental activity, socialising and management of chronic health conditions,' he says. 'Digital technologies have allowed older people access to all five areas in the comfort of their own home, irrespective of where they live.'
Sydney Morning Herald
08-05-2025
- Sydney Morning Herald
What the world needs now is… a little more simplicity
The mindfulness trend that crept in quietly years ago has firmly taken hold. A recent Forbes article on wellness trends found that decluttering and boundary-setting are some of the goals we'll be increasingly pursuing over the next year or more. Simplicity, really, is key. The irony is that while we're trying to minimise a lot of the noise around us, at the same time we're becoming more connected and more online, than ever before. Recent research from nbn shows that Australian households now download eight times more than a decade prior, and this is set to double within the next seven years. We also expect to double the amount we upload within the next four years and OMDIA predicts the average household will jump from 25 to 44 connected devices by 2030. So, while we're trying to quiet down, there's a lot happening in the tech space and it can feel overwhelming. A 2024 survey by digital advocates Good Things found that almost two-thirds of Australians didn't feel comfortable keeping up with all the tech developments happening around them. Finding simplicity in a hectic tech world Computer scientist Alan Kay once reflected, 'Technology is anything that wasn't around when you were born.' The overwhelm we might feel about advances that are happening around us, can be assuaged by realising it's just progress in action. And while the zeitgeist might be scrambling for the latest technology, there's no need to embrace everything at once. In fact, it's quite easy to adapt to growing connectivity at your own pace. As the data shows, it's already happening — we've got our phones and computers hooked up, throw in a smart TV, and maybe a virtual assistant smart speaker, and you're already pretty connected. At some point you might bring in security cameras, or even a smart washing machine — all accessible by your phone. You can construct your internet-integrated world piece by piece at your own pace.
