HOME TECH LIGHTENS THE LOAD
Latest smart solutions take care of everything from lighting to heating to your morning coffee
Who doesn’t like things that make life a little easier at home? It appears pretty much no one, which is why there’s an increasing demand for products that allow us to control pretty much everything.
Today, lighting, heating, home security, showers, vacuum cleaners and even espresso-makers can be managed with our smartphones, with online websites or with impossibly small remote controls, say companies like Ikea, Best Buy and Wayfair.ca.
“The thing with technology is that it makes your life so much easier,” says Christine Tam, external communications manager for Best Buy.
“If you’re going on vacation, you don’t have to think ‘did I lock the door?’ You can actually just go on your phone and turn off the lights, or lock the door, or check that you did those things.”
Tam says one product they’re representing at Best Buy that combines cutting-edge design and the latest technology is Meural Canvas.
Meural, Tam says, is a “smart” frame (or digitally “connected canvas”) that comes with more than 30,000 works of art, and allows you to upload your own images.
“You can wave your hand in front of it and it’ll change the artwork to whatever you’ve pre-selected or it’ll just suggest new pieces for you,” she says.
Another couple of products for the home that are proving popular with Best Buy customers, Tam says, are the stainless steel Bosch built-in coffee system, which allows you to order up a cappuccino from the comfort of your bed (by going on your phone), and the Nanoleaf Aurora LED “modular smart-lighting panels,” which allow you to play with the shape and colour of your lighting.
In step with consumer demand, Ikea has released a new smart lighting range: Tradfri, which promises to “lower the barrier to get better light at home.”
Bjorn Block, business leader for Ikea Smart Home, says most people want to improve their lighting, but don’t know where to start, and describes Tradfri as “an entrylevel light that you can build upon.”
There’s no need for new wiring, says Block; you simply replace a regular bulb with the LED bulb in the kit and then control and change the light (from warm to cold) using the remote control provided.
For those wanting to take their smart lighting further, Block says, Tradfri comes with an app that allows you to select lighting settings for different areas of your home (i.e. brighter, cooler light for the office, and perhaps warmer, softer light for the dining room). In addition to this range, in the fall, Ikea will release its Surte LED light door, which will act as a panel of light in the Besta storage system, and can be controlled — dimmed or brightened — using the Tradfri remote.
“Customers are definitely showing an appetite for products that make their daily activities easier, indoors and out,” says Donna Garlough, editor at Wayfair.ca and style director of sister brand Joss & Main.
“Wall switches that use motionsensor technology to turn lights on and off are popular for saving energy — and let’s face it, letting us be a little lazy. Shower and tub faucets with precise digital controls automatically adjust the water to your perfect temperature — a luxurious feature, yes, but also a practical one for homes with kids. There are remote controls for your front door, your ceiling fan, even your candles.
“Manufacturers are definitely seeing the need for convenience features like these and incorporating them into more products every day.”
Leading designers like Philippe Starck are also embracing technology in their product design, recently releasing his wireless table lamp, Bon Jour Unplugged, for Flos. The lamp has a micro-USB connector on its base, where it can be plugged in and charged (a 30-minute charge lasts six hours); as well, the company notes, the lamp comes in “four colours/materials, and seven different shades that can be mixed and matched.”