When one considers a smart home, it’s often the more forward-facing, dare we say flashier, rooms that garner the most attention from visitors and product developers alike—the media room, the kitchen, even the bathroom.
But there is one behind-the-scenes space, a room solely for the benefit of the resident, where smart technology can really shine—the closet.
More:Building a High-Tech Library at Home
Below we outline products and services that will transform your walk-in closet into a space-age storeroom that will keep you well-organized and well-dressed.
Racks on Rotation
The dream of calling forth your favorite sweater with the simple swipe of a finger—once the fantasy of some far-fetched future—is alive and well.
Introducing the Augusto Dynamic Closet, by Italian innovators Metalprogetti Casa.
The automated closet comes in two stylish systems: The Augusto Ready, a freestanding, rotating rack of minimalist design, and the Augusto Custom, a solution built around your specific storage space.
The functionality behind the Dynamic Closets is the same with both the Custom and the Ready—an oval shape rail, replete with hangers that automatically (& noiselessly) call forth the requested article of clothing via a tap on the app.
But it’s not just suits, shirts, blouses and skirts that Metalprogetti can help you manage. The company also offers Augusto Attic—an automated carousel that cycles through wheel-equipped glass-and-metal storage containers, which can be easily detached (and returned) to the closet queue. Or put more simply "a smart solution for a sizable shoe collection."
One day you’ll regale your grandchildren with stories of how back in the old days you had to get out of bed to pick out your outfit.
Price dependent upon size and customization.
Wired Wisdom on What to Wear
Beckoning a blouse at the touch of a button is one thing, but deciding what to wear each day is a horse of an entirely different color.
Fortunately, modernity has your back here too.
The Glamoutfit app (free to download) will not only let you carry your closet on your phone, but will crowdsource your styling solution when you’re struggling to find an outfit.
Glamoutfit users can upload their wardrobe to the app via their phone’s built-in camera or through product photos from the websites where they shop, and keep track of what they wear (and what they don’t), as well as schedule upcoming attire choices via the app’s calendar.
Where Glamoutfit really shines, however, is in its community-based approach to styling. When laboring to find a look, users can request to be styled from the app’s community of fashionistas, who will construct outfits from items you own, or pieces you can purchase, based on your input and the occasion (e.g. night out, formal work event, etc).
Users can also peruse the outfit choices of fellow Glamoufit users of similar body type and style preferences for further fashion inspiration.
Best of all, if a look doesn’t land, you can always blame the fashionistas on your phone.
Mirror, Mirror on the Wall
No closet is complete without a mirror, and no smart closet is complete with a mirror that can only reflect.
A smart closet is after all a refuge of storage and style, a safe space to start your day, removed from the chaos of the world-at-large.
The MirrorVue Smart Touch Mirror from EverVue is a highly customizable reflective surface that will address all your superficial AND intellectual needs each morning.
Available in any size up to 130" x 96", the MirrorVue can be paired with the operating system of your choice from Android or Windows 10 to Linux or Raspberry Pi.
The end result is the same—you get to check your stocks while you tie your tie. Or review your emails while reviewing your pant suits.
Or, more likely, catch up on last night’s "Bachelor" when you should be getting dressed.
Price dependent upon size and customization.
More:How to Build an Intelligent Bathroom
Safe at Home
Of course, a closet is not only home to clothes, but often, it stores accessories like jewelry, watches and pocketbooks that are many times more valuable—monetarily as well as sentimentally—than the latest from the Marc Jacobs spring line.
Here, of course, you want a product that holds your expensive items not only safely, but if possible, stylishly. The Brown Safe Gem Series fits the bill on both accounts.
The highly customizable safe series offers a number of sizes, finishes and interiors as well as automatic LED lighting to securely store and showcase your finest accoutrement while still adhering to your personal style.
The series can also be equipped with automatic watch winders from Orbita to ensure that your mechanical timepieces are ready to wear at a moment’s notice.
But best of all, the Gem Series can be outfitted with a biometric lock—ensuring entry is only available to the individual with the correct fingerprint and bringing a little James Bond flavor into your life.
Price dependent upon size and customization. Pre-configured safes available from $2,575 to $5,565.