Looking to surprise your partner for Valentine’s Day with a romantic evening cooking at home? Why not set the mood with the help of the Internet of Things (IoT)? Besides offering numerous practical tools that keep us connected and help with productivity, they can be used in outside-the-box ways to show your special one you’ve thought of them.
In addition to leveling up your smart home, IoT can help you accomplish everything from setting a romantic ambiance to creating a list of task reminders so everything goes smoothly. Here are five ways IoT can help you create a romantic evening – from planning to execution.
1. Plan with a Virtual Assistant
Use your virtual assistant, such as Amazon Alexa, Apple’s Siri, or Google Assistant, to offer hands-free and efficient ways to manage your day and help you prepare for the upcoming evening. You can use them for a multitude of tasks, including:
Develop a playlist for the evening on your smart speaker. Try something like “Hey Alexa, create a romantic setlist, and watch the evening unfold with classics like The Temptations and Marvin Gaye or more contemporary artists like Adele and Ed Sheeran.
Create a shopping list for dinner on your phone. Found a nice recipe for white wine lemon chicken piccata? Pick up everything you need with ease by telling your smart wearable to create a shopping list and snag the items with a glance on your wrist.
Sometimes, we can become overwhelmed with ideas and where to start our special evening. In recent use, large language models such as Chat-GPT have been great starting points for brainstorming. Try asking something like, “What are some romantic things to do on Valentine’s Day.” It might suggest something like a dance class or spa night at home.
2. Prep Your Smart Home (or Building)
The same virtual assistants you used in the planning stage can also help you create the perfect smart home ambiance for a romantic evening, and you can even set up a full routine to automate changing all of the settings at once. Some examples include:
Dimming smart LED lights or even changing their hues to moody colors can create an atmospheric mood. Simple things like auto-adjusting the temperature can ensure your date is comfortable and reduce distractions.
If you live in a smart building with intercoms or digital keypads, you can integrate with your security system using endpoint intelligence. When your lover enters their access code, you’ll get a notification when they sign in. You can also use your door’s camera to see whether that doorbell was your partner or a last-minute delivery.
3. Use Wearables to Keep Track of Tasks
Smartwatches aren’t just popular fitness trackers; they can also keep you on track of tasks. Wearables offer various hands-free tools that enable you to juggle multiple time-sensitive tasks. If you’re busy cooking a romantic meal, your smart watch can keep a timer so you don’t overcook your meal or burn the dessert you put in the oven.
Communication is key in a relationship, so being able to send or receive messages to your partner, and more without taking your eyes off cooking or cleaning, will go a long way in making them feel important. You might feel tired before the date begins after taking care of everything you need. Why not set an alarm and take a well-deserved nap for 30 minutes? Wake up refreshed and ready for your date.
4. Use AR/VR to Create an Immersive Experience
If you’re at home for Valentine’s Day, you can still experience romantic countryside or a sunny tropical beach. With virtual reality (VR), you can use your headsets to pretend you’re on a scenic getaway or turn your living room into a personal home theatre. Try setting up a massage using VR to immerse yourself and your significant other in the sounds of waves crashing on the beach.
If you’re still shopping for the perfect look, try augmented reality (AR) to try on different outfits or makeup. Many companies, such as the makeup retailer Sephora, have an app that allows you to try on makeup, while clothing brand H&M enables you to try on clothes before you buy. Go on a date looking sharp!
5. Maintain Peace of Mind from Work
As you continue your romantic evening, you may find it difficult to relax, especially if you’re in an on-call profession like the medical field. IoT can also help you feel rest assured, knowing that your patient’s needs are still managed with remote patient monitoring, even at home.
Devices such as activity trackers or ECG monitors can help alert you if there are any significant changes in your patient’s status; this way, you can stand ready to help or alert someone at work to come in and check on the patient who requires attention.
Take the Stress Out of Planning
Valentine’s Day is meant for spending time with loved ones, but getting everything set up for a special date requires a lot of planning and preparation. IoT can act as an extra set of hands – and these features don’t have to compromise energy efficiency or performance. Ultra-low power systems-on-chip (SoC) like the ones from Ambiq give smart device manufacturers more flexibility to increase performance and utilize up to 10X less power than conventional circuit designs. The patented Subthreshold Power Optimized Technology (SPOT ®) platform can help wireless and lithium-powered devices go days, weeks, and sometimes months on a single charge, so your IoT devices are ready when you need them.
Sean Kettering
