The smart home has come a long way in just three years. In 2014, two-thirds of consumers with broadband were not familiar with smart-home services or products or where to buy them, according to a white paper from the Consumer Electronics Association and Park Associates. Now, 86 percent of consumers “are confident they know what it means when someone says they have a smart home,” according to a survey conducted by Finn Futures of about 1,000 U.S. adults.

Read more: The Next Big Thing in Smart-Home Tech

Consumers see greater use for smart-home tech, now and in the future. For example, 77 percent of respondents recently surveyed by Finn Futures say they believe it’ll be normal to have a robot in their home within 20 years.

The top three smart home features consumers say they would value most now in a smart home are locks and doors (55 percent); thermostat (44 percent); and lighting (41 percent). A voice-controlled assistant (22 percent) and entertainment (25 percent) lagged behind.

"Emotion plays an important role when it comes to consumers' willingness to adopt connected technology," says Sabrina Horn, managing partner, U.S. technology practice with Finn Partners. "People want to feel in control of their lives and of their loved ones' well-being, so it isn't surprising that we always see peace of mind as the top motivator in smart-home adoption. Communications professionals need to help brands and other connected technology sectors tap into this finding with more visually oriented and multifaceted market awareness campaigns."