Living & Learning: The Future of Home According to Gen Z - Technology Webinar
As The Property Marketing Strategists move through a series of research pillars, our latest webinar - focused on the pillar of technology - reviews data collected from our Living and Learning survey.
Gen Z is already disrupting worldwide views and movements. As they move into the student population and working world, we can expect to see great change influenced by their values, beliefs and expectations.
During this webinar, we will discuss the technology pillar of our research initiative with a panel of experts.
Technology comes as the final pillar of our research initiative, and during this webinar discussion, we will unpack these research findings in more detail. How do Gen Z view technology as a part of the home? What are the implications for accommodation providers?
Our expert panel for this webinar included Kevin Brady, Co-founder of Apudos, Brian Jeffrey Technology and Digital Transformation Director for UPP, Andrew Dutton Chief Executive Officer at ASK4, and Amrita Mahindroo, Director and Cofounder of DROO Architects.
The Metaverse and VR
Surprisingly, our technology pillar brought up some unexpected results when it came to the relationship between the Gen Z population and technology. They seemed to steer away from expected future trends and have a different attitude towards technology than we thought.
Sarah opened the discussion with a reference to some of the most surprising results from the research. Out of the 2,500 respondents participating, only 8% of all graduates said they think the metaverse will change the living space in the next 10 years.
We explored this notion in further detail, and our experts offer some interesting perspectives drawing on their professional and real-life experiences.
Sarah asked the panel if they were surprised about these findings. Andrew responded by mentioning the pertinent issue of context and use case scenarios. For this demographic, they mainly use VR and the Metaverse for gaming and entertainment, “It’s relatively new and expensive, and they can’t always afford it.”
At this moment in time, VR and the metaverse perhaps feels inaccessible to many, so it’s difficult to imagine its implementation in the home environment.
Amrita concurred with this point: “It doesn’t necessarily preoccupy a lot of space in their everyday lives…
“There's an entire video that's gone viral, of people projecting holograms of windows and external spaces onto their tiny tiny rooms, because they don't have access to that. So, it's a version of Metaverse, which might help them feel more at ease in an environment in which they can't control. And that's about the extent of the kind of value that they're getting from that aspect of technology.”
Kevin offered the view that it might be further into the future that we really see the impact in the home. He agreed that younger generations are still in the early adoption stages of the gaming and entertainment aspect of the metaverse.
For Gen Z, these findings may not stem from a resistance to adopt this technology in the home but rather an unfamiliarity of it. How it could work to improve their home life might not be clear just yet, as the concept is just in its infancy. There are however many benefits to the home and the creation of a community which we will discuss more. But what would that mean for personal contact and face-to-face interaction? We segued into this point next.
Personal contact
As Sarah added “Should we be encouraging or facilitating space whereby people don't actually need to be in the same room to talk to each other and hang out with each other to build a community?”
This can take the human impact out of things, should we be worried about that?
If we try to imagine a world without the need for human contact for communication, customer service and events, what might the impact be?
Andrew spoke of his own observations and experiences with the younger end of gen Z, stating that “they avoid personal contact.”
“They’re happy to send video messages and texts but asking them to pick up the phone and speak to someone it’s a little bit more difficult. Was that the impact of covid? There could be some anxiety around personal spaces that aren't digital.
Gaming, communicating, meeting new friends are already becoming significantly digital thanks to apps, VR and gaming technologies.
On the flip side, Kevin commented on how technology saved his son during the pandemic who was losing touch with friends: “He had the ability to speak to them online and play gaming, but everything in life needs balance. Too much of either can be damaging.”
Amrita spoke about how Covid has such a big impact on young people and there are now a lot of mental health problems faced by young people as a consequence. This was largely due to the switch to e-learning and new education methods: “We’re encouraging a lot of our clients to reconnect with physical spaces and communicate physically.”
Security and privacy
Sarah revisited the TPMS research findings around privacy and security, and that while a high proportion were in favour of smart tech, this was heavily caveated by a concern around privacy and security.
Driving that concern could be the worry about data leaks or security breaches.
Amrita expanded on this topic explaining that for lots of young people going to university, it’s their first experience of the adult world and that means they are now in control of their own finances, living arrangements, and have to manage their own space. With digital platforms, there’s the inevitability that safety will become an issue.
Kevin: “Privacy policies can be very vague and we’re often operating on one more device at once.”
Andrew shared some interesting findings from his research endeavours: “So 67% of the students who responded were worried about their data being hacked. 61% were all about not knowing what the company or organisation was going to do with their data.
25% of them said that they valued their data so much that they felt that they ought to be able to sell their own personal data.”
To be able to bring smart technology into living spaces and maximise its usage, we might also need biometric data. That's still data that needs to be shared with a network or system to manage a physical space.
Smart technology
Smart data might not only make bills cheaper, but can also help us work towards reaching carbon net zero.
Andrew: ”If you give me the information about what energy I'm using through smart metering, and you can tell me what the average is, I can actually start to do something with that data that might actually make my bill cheaper and more importantly, I know how I could start to impact towards net zero in terms of the reduction of my energy usage.”
But will this need to rely on draconian measures?
The proliferation of data that could occur as a consequence of smart tech in BTR and PBSA properties could raise concerns around draconian measures and data privacy, so we can understand the reticence from young people. But it comes down to trust, we have to trust the providers are using data responsibly and for the advantage of the residents.
Andrew: “If data improves one's personal safety and security, people are more willing to give that information.”
The data collected from smart metering also empowers operators and residents to take more decisive action over what they're using. For example, if smart technology can tell if a window is open or a room is unoccupied, the energy usage can be altered to compensate and not waste energy.
For property managers, if you can reduce energy usage you don't have to become strict over energy usage policies, but you get useful data that helps students have a personal impact on the energy they’re using, but you can manage operating costs better as a provider.
Connectivity
Wifi speed, fibre optic and connectivity were considered a priority for our respondents. As Brian explained: “Connectivity is crucial for students and universities. It’s a minimum expectation in universities - students expect connectivity to be optimal.”
It is clear from our findings that access and connectivity are important, but as the panel discussed, this needs to be stable and fast.
Andrew: “When you have traffic management across a 900-person building, it's how the traffic is directed across the building that’s important and this is where smart technology comes in. If you game, download and stream but also study and do your work. It’s not so much about the speed, it’s the service - can it manage everything and stay connected?”
High quality connectivity is crucial where students are using more devices and more digital applications. The demand for stable and reliable connectivity that is of a high quality appears to be non-negotiable.
With more online learning and collaboration with people over video calls, high quality internet needs to be synonymous with the home. In multi tenanted spaces this is expected as part of the rent. Tenants expect to walk in and be able to start using it straight away. Just like hot water!
Customer service
Could technology take over the management of buildings?
Sarah asked the panel if they think technology could completely eradicate the need for human contact and face to face contact with customer service.
The general consensus is that we’ve got a long way to go yet. We don’t yet have any buildings that are completely managed by smart systems, but it’s something that could appear in our future.
Brian spoke about the integration of technology to act as a first pass before human contact, so chatbots could be a way of filtering down requests that can be managed via a tech system, compared to those that require human interaction:
“And so we provide an app, a student facing app, it’s actually sort of a business system, but in terms of the way that students interact is a download of an app. And that provides a number of online services. And that’s integral to the way that we operate. What it doesn’t do is it doesn’t stop one of the students coming down to reception where there is a reception or talking to someone over the phone, but there is sort of a multi channel approach to that. So there’s always some human interaction, although the students do get the option.”
Kevin gave a perspective from his business, improving the experience of the resident and building manager by solving the ‘parcel problem’; staff having to manage large volumes of parcels and food deliveries taking them from the couriers and to residents. Apudos’ platform aims to take away that ‘people problem’ alleviating the workload for operators and making it easier for residents to get their parcels.
The conclusion appeared to be that technology will not eradicate the need for humans overall, but there is a balance to be achieved. There are negatives and positives with regards to technology and customer service - sometimes a human being is the only plausible option to resolve an issue.
What this means for the future…
Accommodation providers will be unable to avoid the implementation of more technology at some point in the future. While there doesn’t appear to be a strong demand for it from students right now, it will likely become an expected bare minimum in PBSA units.
Technology can be used for more than improving efficiency and costs, it can be a way of facilitating community among residents, providing entertainment, and facilitating better customer service. All of which are important to the Gen Z populations. What is equally important however is security and privacy. Communication and transparency will be crucial when it comes to data and privacy policy. If students are clear on why and how their data is being used, they are more likely to offer it.
Perhaps, as discussed at the beginning of the webinar, it will be the generation who follow Gen Z who will have more of a firm push on the integration of technology.
Watch the full webinar here
Listen to the session as a podcast