light switch
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Stick this battery-powered Bluetooth light switch anywhere you want
There are myriad devices like the Philips Hue that can be controlled with a smartphone, but how about just... a switch? A company called Avi-on was thinking the same thing, so it created a movable Bluetooth dimmer switch that simply sticks to your wall without any holes or wiring. It can be used to control a number of GE-branded Bluetooth devices, like its Smart Bulbs and indoor and outdoor plugs. The system doesn't require a hub, and Avi-on claims the switch's battery will last "multi-years." If you do want to use a smartphone instead, the company also has iOS and Android apps, with features like timers, scheduling and smart device grouping.
ThinkGeek's Power-Up brings the arcade controls to your room's light switch
Sure, you could get one of Think Geek's iCade controllers to play actual arcade-style button mashing games -- or you just bring the nostalgia of the joystick to your light switch for $30 with its recently introduced Power-Up Arcade light switch plate. The unit can replace any standard light switch plate, turning it into a faux gaming control panel. A traditional joystick replaces your old switch nub to control the lights, while its two action buttons enable "pew pew" sound effects when pressed. If all that wasn't enough, the Power-Up also acts as a nightlight after you use it to pwn hit the main lights in your quarters (you'll have to provide of a duo of AA batteries yourself). Check out the video below to see it in action for yourself.
Insert Coin: Luminode dimmer switch runs on a mesh network, learns to light up our lives (video)
In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you'd like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with "Insert Coin" as the subject line. Just a simple light switch, you say? Look closer. Think Automatic's Luminode dimmer switch hides both a processor and a mesh network connection that lets every switch in the home coordinate with each other. A multi-tap system makes it possible to link multiple lights together without extra wiring or complex programming, but that's just the start: it's possible to create "scenes" of predefined lighting levels and, with a USB adapter, hook up to home automation systems (including Think Automatic's own) that can learn usage habits, track energy consumption or simply let us control the array with our smartphones. The platform uses raw XML to communicate and already talks to GE, Insteon and Stargate hardware -- all without requiring a huge grid of buttons or displays. Development of the Luminode is very nearly done after six-plus years of work in Seattle. The hardware is fundamentally ready and just needs the Kickstarter project to finish its FCC and UL testing along with the obligatory mass production. The hope is to start delivering switches in January as well as integrate more closely with non-lighting elements in the future. Pledge levels are dictated almost exclusively by volume: $130 is what it takes to get a basic two-switch kit, $260 will add the USB adapter along with an extra switch, and successive levels scale all the way up to a 50-switch, $3,000 kit for large homes. Think Automatic has a relatively low $35,000 threshold to meet its Kickstarter funding, but it only has 13 days left to go. If you like the idea of advanced lighting that doesn't require an advanced appreciation of the user manual to understand, now's a good time to click the source link and make it happen.
SmartSwitch prototype makes work out of the simplest of things
Conserving energy is one of those things that you may want to do, but you've never gotten around to it, and you're not exactly sure how to start -- because, well, thinking about stuff is hard. The SmartSwitch prototype -- designed by Peter Russo and Brendan Wypich at Stanford University -- works on just that idea: turning lights on and off is a reflexive action that you barely think about... unless you get some resistance. The modded light switch is equipped with a network connection and a brake pad, and each time you try to turn on a light in your home, it makes a judgment about the overall current electricity levels being used, and gives resistance, making the switch harder to turn on, if the network determines the levels of usage to be high. Check out a video of how the whole thing works after the break.[Via Hacked Gadgets]
Wall-mounted touchpad light switch ends accidental in-home raves
Flipping on a light switch usually doesn't require much in the way of cranial fortitude, but mount three or four of the things in a row and it's Concentration time whenever you try to flick the right one. Japanese graphic designer Mac Funamizu feels your shame, imagining a conceptual wall-mounted touchpad to end the confusion and inadvertent light shows. With his invention you'd simply drag your finger toward the light you want to turn on, do it again to turn it off, or make a circular sweep to illuminate the whole room. It certainly seems a bit more useful than other switches we've covered in the past, but until we see a version that will register our gestures from the couch we'll stick with our Clappers, thank you very much. Update: Taku commented to point out a strangely similar though seemingly completely unrelated prototype from London-based designer Edward Horsford. It offers the same functionality plus adds ridges.[Via Engadget German]
