Why smart homes need to think in spaces, not gadgets

The article discusses the evolution and challenges of smart home technology, emphasizing that the initial promise of effortless automation has been undermined by complexity and fragmentation. Early smart homes focused on making individual devices intelligent—such as voice-controlled lights or learning thermostats—but as more gadgets were added, the experience became disjointed, with multiple apps and unreliable automations. The core issue identified is the lack of system-level intelligence that understands the home as a dynamic living environment, where context, routines, and spatial relationships matter more than isolated device commands. To address this, the article highlights Tuya Smart’s approach, which shifts the focus from individual devices to creating intelligence embedded in physical spaces. Tuya Smart offers a cloud platform that integrates AI with a broad ecosystem of devices, overcoming fragmentation by enabling coordinated behavior across rooms and scenarios. Central to this system is Hey Tuya, an AI life assistant designed not just for command-based interaction but to sense environments, learn user habits, and proactively manage devices in a contextual, space