Making Screens Touchless and Controllable from Afar
Glamos is a new device (currently in Kickstarter stage) that turns other devices with screens into virtual touchscreens. Using LIDAR (light detection and ranging) technology, Glamos detects motion and sends control signals to the devices it communicates with (laptops, smart TVs, smartphones, tablets, etc.). For example, consumers could control their TV by “tapping” parts of the air that coincide with locations on the TV screen, remote control not needed. For devices with a touchscreen, users could interact with them from a distance…. for example, swiping through a recipe with no need to clean off those dirty hands.
The NPD Take:
- Glamos pricing is set to start at $109 – for a device that actually needs to be physically connected (wired) to your TV, laptop, etc. This price point seems too high for a product with a questionable value proposition. Were this type of technology to be integrated into products, instead of requiring a separate widget, the value would increase as a “nice to have”, but not a “need to have” that adds on a significant amount to the price tag.
New Funky Lighting from Nanoleaf for Pre-Order
The Hexagons smart light panels that Nanoleaf announced at CES 2020 are now available for pre-order, with shipments supposed to go out in June. The panels have over 16 million colors and with the Music Visualizer, can light up in time with your tunes, or reflect what’s playing on TV with Screen Mirror. Compatible with all of the popular voice assistants and HomeKit, the panels are also touch-sensitive to control the lights or play games (Simon Says, anyone?).
The NPD Take:
- $199 for a 7 panel starter pack is no small investment, but for budding smart home enthusiast/artist/interior decorator the Nanoleaf panels certainly bring new meaning to wall art, and to smart lighting.
Coronavirus Will Make Our Homes Smarter?
It is safe to say that spending a lot of (too much) quality (or not) time in our homes has a lot of people thinking about the pros and cons of their current homestead. A new article appearing in apartmenttherapy.com discusses the potential changes, born from today’s situation, that we could see in future home builds – from less of a focus on the “open” concept and more space dedicated to outdoor living to healthier, and smarter, homes. According to some quoted architectural and interior design firms, homes of the future could be better equipped to track air quality (and adjust air filtration as necessary), light quality (and synchronize lighting with circadian rhythms), water quality, etc. Motion sensors and voice control for appliances, faucets, lighting, etc. could also become more common.
The NPD Take:
- Home building has already started to become a key vertical market for home automation product manufacturers as they look to expand beyond retail and D2C. This area will become even more crucial to growth going forward as the retail environment becomes increasingly crowded with new brands and as consumers’ expectations for their new home investments morphs.