Pure magic
The human touch is the next big thing in smart home technology, from thoughtful refrigerators to intuitive ovens.
Warm. Soft. Caring. Thoughtful. These are words you might associate with the perfect husband, or the ideal pet, but no, we’re talking about technology. Google’s head of hardware design, Ivy Ross, explained it this way when she spoke at the tech giant’s Softwear exhibition at this year’s Milan Design Week: “I like technology that amplifies our humanity — things that are more emotional and dimensional. We’re exploring AI [artificial intelligence] and VR [virtual reality], and we’re starting to pop into 3D, giving us new spatial relationships and possibilities. We’re looking and continuing to evolve magical moments.”
Ah, yes, magical moments through technology — they really are becoming a thing. Just a few high-profile examples: in June, developers in the Dutch city of Eindhoven announced plans for habitable 3D-printed houses that will be available for rental next year — transforming the entire building industry. At Salone this year, Italian designer Piero Lissoni presented his I-table for Kartell — a clever multifunctional kitchen table, workspace and cooktop all in one. Panasonic, meanwhile, is making our air safer to breathe with its new Nanoe X air-purifying technology, with superpower capabilities to control allergens, bacteria and viruses in personal and commercial environments throughout the world.
Closer to home, smart appliances are offering a variety of everyday magical moments. The first time you put up your feet and relax with a cup of tea as the Electrolux Purei9 robot vacuum activates its 3D-mapping system to get the measure of your room, and then whirls about cleaning it, is sheer bliss. With its app-controlled, customisable cleaning schedule and adorable compact design, you might even find yourself falling just a little bit in love.
The bathroom might not be a place you associate with magic, but Kohler wants to change all that. In addition to developing Kohler Konnect — a smart range offering voice-enabled technology that allows you to monitor and personalise everything from water temperature to ambient lighting and music — the US brand recently introduced the Veil intelligent toilet, a sculptural, wall-hung unit featuring automated lid opening and closing, touchless flushing and “cleansing features” (including a bidet function). Plus, it self-cleans after every use. It’s a germophobe’s dream come true.
There’s wizardry going on in the kitchen, too. The latest version of the Samsung Family Hub has new smart features that elevate its standing from mere refrigerator to personal assistant. In addition to voice-activation control to make shopping lists, play music, set timers and search for recipes, now, thanks to partnerships with Uber, Nespresso and Ring Doorbell, you can also book a ride, see who’s at the front door from your kitchen and stock up on coffee capsules when you start running low. With the SmartThings app, the Family Hub can also talk to all the other compatible Samsung devices in your household. So how about an oven that communicates with your food? That’s the big idea behind Miele’s wi-fi-enabled Dialog oven. Along with traditional radiant heat, this shrewd appliance deploys electromagnetic waves in a specific frequency range that somehow intuit on a molecular level exactly what adjustments the cooking process requires — and, hey presto, everything cooks quickly, evenly and flawlessly. LG, meanwhile, is big on abracadabra experiences. Further to the DeepThinQ AI technology it introduced last year, the electronics megabrand recently launched a new range of AI products that take the technology one step further — these appliances let you show them how to work. The LG OLED TV with AI ThinQ offers voicecontrol interactivity through a smart speaker system. With it, you can tell your television to find a specific show or movie, adjust the volume, pause, search content and switch off when the program you’re watching ends. Unlike other popular smart home speakers, your TV won’t be eavesdropping on you, either — you have to push a button on the remote before issuing your commands. Now that’s what we call magic. VL