A NEW company aims to be at the forefront of developing “smart homes” – where entertainment, security and comfort are all automated and controlled by the user.

Smart Homeworks has already been picked by the largest Bang & Olufsen retailer as its exclusive partner in the UK.

Commercial director Richard Smiles has been demonstrating the technology at a home in Canford Cliffs.

“In smart home technology, everything from AV, home cinema and other entertainment to technology that makes your home more secure, more safe, more functional is all connected,” he said.

There are already a host of applications for remotely controlling such needs as heating and security, as well as streamed entertainment. But Mr Smiles said his company brings functions together.

“The market has a lot of companies selling off-the-peg products. The problem with those items is each manufacturer is doing their own thing. They work very well in isolation but you can end up with up to 20 of them in your home. It makes people lack confidence,” he said.

The business says its custom installations allow for the easy control of all home systems, including music and video to multiple rooms. It aims to deliver its integrated systems to 1,500 homes and businesses by 2020.

It is installing Bang & Olufsen technology for NuCONNECT, which operates in Harrods and Selfridges, with its own stores at Knightsbridge, Marylebone High Street, Windsor and Dublin.

It has also announced a partnership with Control4, whose Intercom Anywhere app allows householders to receive video intercom calls from their front door or gate, whether or not they are at home.

Mr Smiles said the technology could be common in five years.

“I worked in IT for a job and I kind of looked at this stuff on the horizon,” he said.

“This is by no means mainstream but I firmly believe – and I’m betting my business on it – that it will be.

“I think what will happen is as people get to see what can happen and the price comes down, there will be this point where it will start to be everywhere.”

The rise of the “internet of things” – appliances and systems controlled online – has come with concerns about security. Mr Smiles said his company’s installations would offer extra protection form hackers.

“At the moment everyone with any degree of hacking skill can get into someone’s home within a few minutes,” he said.