The smart home has been around for decades. Thanks to the Internet of Things (IoT) era, which is putting sensors everywhere and in everything, “smarts” are beginning to proliferate and a slew of ingenious applications are accelerating adoption. Indeed, it has been estimated that by 2017 there will be over 31 million smart systems installed in homes around the world.
That said, however, there is still work to be done to make smart home technology truly useful. Two things have been missing, real ease-of-use (simple user control of “E”verything” from a single interface), and contextual information to make to help make things even easier. Those gaps, call them missing links, being closed is behind the release of Singapore-based startup Intraix KLUG Home, a is a tiny USB device that plugs into your Wi-Fi router and connects you with the different smart devices around your home – all on one interface, controllable via a smartphone app.
Giving the smart home context and voice control
In revealing the release of KLUG Home (now available on Indiegogo), Intraix says the product with the odd name from the German word for ‘smart. What makes the device standout from other solutions on the market is the combination of the aforementioned contextual awareness along with voice control. In short, it is a real leap beyond the early days of voice-controlled TV remotes.
How KLUG Home works is by using machine learning algorithms to monitor and learn from a user's personal changes and preferences. Intraix says it thereby creates, “a synergistic, smart ecosystem as opposed to merely a platform.” Plus, it can “talk” to the likes of popular digital assistants, including Alexa (Amazon Echo), Siri (Apple HomeKit) and Ok Google (Google Now).
As noted above relating to the missing link, the challenge today is that smart is complicated. At this point many of us are aware, for example, that things like our Chromecast while interesting can be a hassle. Every time we add something we think will be useful we need to add another device and/or interface to multiple apps on our smart devices. It tends to actually dissuade usage. The KLUG Home solves that challenge with universal connectivity. And, better yet, it learns as it goes along leveraging previous behaviors to save use time and frustration.
“We believe that smart devices can be even smarter when they work together and play off of each others’ synergies,” noted Bryan Lee, co-founder of Intraix. “A truly smart home starts with better software – and this is where we make a difference. We’ve designed KLUG Home to listen, learn and understand your habits and preferences at home. It gets smarter as it gets to know you better and is able to develop single contexts across the multiple devices that you own and use most. KLUG Home makes your home uniquely yours – and we think that’s a beautiful thing.”
It should also be noted that the connectivity claim is based on the fact that the KLUG Home supports such popular smart devices, hubs and software including Nest, SmartThings and Amazon Echo. It integrates the most widely used, reliable and secure protocols (Wi-Fi and ZigBee, Apple HomeKit, Google Now) and can connect to many third-party smart devices, including: Fitbit, Netatmo Weather Station, Philips Hue lights and various alarm systems and motion sensors.
Realities are that we will not use things that are complicated and turn what should be easy routines in a chore. Maximizing the benefits of our homes getting smarter is by enabling us to be smarter in employing them. Intraix if nothing else appears to have packed a lot of smarts into a small form factor that should enable us to as the knight in the hit movie, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, says when Indiana selects the correct Holy Grail, “He chose wisely!”
Edited by
Ken Briodagh
