We are at an interesting crossroads for the inevitable “smart home” revolution. New products are flooding the market every day seeking to make you more productive, more connected, and more in control of your increasingly complicated day to day existence. Regardless of where you fall in your opinions, there are some serious challenges facing any product that is added to the home.
A great example of these challenges comes in new smart lighting solutions for the home. Recently my parents purchased a few of the Philips Hue lightbulbs and the accompanying bridge that allows them to control them from their smartphone. Seems cool right? The answer is that after the novelty wears off, they just don’t work very well. When I visit them, I don’t know which lights have the bulbs so I’m hesitant to turn lights on and off so that I don’t mess up the precarious house of cards that is set up with special on/off times and lighting levels. I downloaded the Hue app to my phone to try and shed some light on the situation and then was accused of “hacking” the lights by my Mom. So I am reduced to sitting there in the dark, what a great feeling!
This is why the thinking of the smart home needs extra care. The home is a both a personal space, an entertaining space, and a work space all at once. Because of this complexity, the technology better just work without having to think about it. A product like Switcheroo nails this because as it was designed it was kept simple and effective. Watch the following video to get the overview of this product in 20 seconds.
The beauty is that you can set up and use the product in the same amount of time that it took you to fully understand and grasp the problem it is trying to solve and how it will make your life easier. [Bonus, your parents can set this up without your help!] This is the true value of a “smart home” solution. You don’t need to download and app, you don’t need to enter credentials, update firmware, or worry about security. You just use it and it works. If you are smart, this is the type of solution you will use in your home.
Switcheroo is launching a Kickstarter on January 17th.
