~ Auto Buzz ~: Nanoleaf Remote Adds Gesture Control To Your Smart Home

Nanoleaf is showing off a new remote for your smart home at the CES 2018 trade show that takes the form of a dodecahedron, allowing users to pick it up and control items in their smart home setup by turning it, setting it down, and performing gestures with it. The Nanoleaf remote is compatible with any and all Apple Homekit devices, including other Nanoleaf products, and can be fine-tuned and synced up with other devices via a companion app for iOS and Android. Nanoleaf has not announced when the Remote will become available for preorder, but the preorder link on the company’s website is live and currently accepting signups. The pricing is currently set at only $49.99. Combined with the fact that the final product is on show at CES, it’s likely not too far off.

The Nanoleaf Remote has 12 sides, and each one corresponds to a given command or set of commands. The set of commands available varies conditionally, depending on where a user is in relation to other smart devices, and what is on or off. Essentially, placing a certain side up issues a given command, and turning it will control variables concerning that command. In the attached video, Nanoleaf shows off this capability by having the remote control a set of Nanoleaf smart lights strung up near a desk, changing their color by turning different sides up, then changing the brightness by rotating the remote. Similarly, turning the remote a different way while holding it up activated a nearby soundbar, which could have its volume controlled by simply turning the remote. It boasts full compatibility with Apple Homekit, allowing those who don’t own any Apple devices to have a small, convenient hub for devices that they would otherwise have to control individually or buy a more expensive hub for.

The Nanoleaf Remote is doubtlessly one of the most creative devices at CES this year, but it follows what seems to be a running theme with this year’s show; home automation and control of smart home devices becoming easier and more convenient, either with increasing integration across platforms or by way of entirely new devices, such as this one, that change the way a smart home and the devices in it are controlled.