Who Needs Mutant Powers When You Have Smart Home Tech?

When you watch X-Men: Apocalypse, you can’t help but think about what it would be like to have mutant powers. Super strength. Telepathy. Shape shifting. How awesome would that be? While none of us is likely to be an immortal, the evolution of the smart home technology does give us the opportunity to wield a different kind of power over the automation of our homes that’s not too different than the skills of you’ll see in some your favorite characters in X-Men: Apocalypse in theaters May 27.

Storm: The power to control the weather
Storm is known for her ability to manipulate the weather and invoke lightning, high winds or even blizzards with her powers. Not sure you want to start a winter weather advisory in your smart home, but the Nest gives you the next best thing – total control over temperature. You can manage the atmosphere in your home from pretty much anywhere. Turn on the heat, adjust the A/C, or even set your Nest to cool down your home in just enough time for you to get home. And just as Storm works with her fellow X-Men, the Nest unit communicates with a number of other smart home devices taking signals from their activity in order to be more efficient in accomplishing the worthy task of keeping your home in its most comfortable state. And for those looking for a Nest alternative, check out Ecobee.

Cerebro: The ability to speak with fellow mutants
So Cerebro isn’t officially a character, but it certainly plays a pivotal role in X-Men: Apocalypse. It helps Professor X find and communicate with other mutants across the globe right from the comfort of his own subterranean basement. Telepathy may be beyond the grasps of human understanding (for now), but in your smart home you do have the ability to speak to and control many of your smart devices through the Amazon Echo. This canister sized device, like Cerebro, is not a person but feels like an added member of the family after a few days of use. You just simply say “Hey Alexa” and then ask her a question or to perform a task and Alexa does it. The Amazon Echo can connect to your Nest unit, home theater system, Amazon account and more to allow you one central point of control for your smart home devices. More and more smart home players are offering connectivity of their devices to the Echo making it the unofficial operating system of the smart home.

Nightcrawler: Teleport to anywhere you can see
Oh how I wish I could teleport like Nightcrawler. Not that I want the blue face to go along with it, but the thought of instantly going from one place to another is pretty enticing. On the smart home side of things, the advent of home security systems allows you to basically teleport to your home whenever you want using smart camera systems. One of the more interesting ones on the market is the Netgear Arlo Smart Home Security System. These pint-sized cameras are battery operated and can be placed pretty much anywhere in and around your home. Unlike a lot of smart home camera units, the Netgear Arlo can even be positioned outside and around your property giving you the ability to peer into any room or corner of your home. Check on the dog while you’re at work. Make sure the kids got home alright after soccer practice. Even check on alert signals to your phone and see who’s at your front door. There are a number of smart home camera systems on the market today, but the Netgear Arlo appears to be one of the most interesting options for those who want a full range of views into their home.

Mystique: The power to blend into anything
Shape shifting is the term most used for Mystique’s mutant powers as she can turn herself into anyone that she sees. But what that power really boils down to is her ability to blend in. The Stealth Acoustic Invisible Speakers also have that same power. This high-end speaker system actually blends into your walls. How is that possible? It’s basically a speakers system that lives inside the walls of your home. You would think that would diminish the audio quality, but thanks to their patented technology system it actually provides better sound than what you would experience on any of the latest HD sets. Plus you have the ability to position the speakers anywhere there’s a wall which leaves the possibilities endless for creating the ultimate home audio system.

Cyclops: Shoot optic force blasts from his eyes
Possibly the coolest looking mutant ability, but not the most practical. The optic blasts emitting from Cyclops eyes might seem like a stretch to compare to smart home tech, but your eyes might actually glow when you experience the light emitting diode display from the latest LG OLED 4K TV. This LG set, which debuted at CES this year, projects its picture onto glass making it the thinnest OLED on the market. Because of the technology used to turn on and off individual light displays it also boasts the deepest blacks and most stunning picture you’ll come across. When I got to experience first hand I’ll tell you my eyes were beaming…ok that was forced, but you truly have to see the LG OLED to believe it.