Mood-enhancing Auri light packs Alexa smart home control

Wellness-oriented smart lights and scent diffusers have been around for a while. They don't always play nicely with modern smart homes, though, and Ling Technology aims to address that. It's crowdfunding a smart light, Auri, that aims to improve your "mental wellbeing" while integrating with other connected devices. Like you'd expect, it combines colored lighting and sound (through a 36W speaker) in a bid to help you sleep, sharpen your focus or otherwise alter your mood. However, it also makes healthy use of Alexa -- you can play your own music and control the rest of your smart home. You won't need a separate smart speaker for those moments when you aren't looking to calm down.

There's also an optional oil diffuser if you want an aroma to set your mind at ease.

Many of these features aren't novel concepts by themselves, but Ling is betting that you'll like their combination at a fairly aggressive price. The Auri will normally sell for $230, but Ling is offering the light to crowdfunding backers for a modest $129 if you act quickly. Provided the company meets its funding goal, you should get the Auri around March 2019. That pre-launch price could make it a decent bargain if you were already shopping for connected lights and speakers, especially if you were counting on them to help you relax.