Nothing in your house is safe from becoming “smart.” Case in point: At CES this week Bosch has unveiled a device that could be fitted to furniture to plug regular old shelves into the Internet of Things. Thanks to Bosch’s tiny projector, the BML100PI, you could soon use your shelves to pick outfits, check the weather, organize your clothes for laundry day, and more. It’s not actually meant to be sold directly to consumers, which is why the name isn’t catchy. Instead, this tech could be integrated into smart cams, fridges and more in the near future.
The BML100PI projects images of buttons that you can touch. It’s a laser projector: If you move your finger over the button, a photodiode picks up a reflection of your finger and registers it as a press. In the demo at CES, different closet shelves allowed you to sort through your shirts, pick an option with a press and order more if you were running out.
Bosch has unveiled the BML100PI module that can project a virtual touchscreen onto any surface.
Bosch says one module can project onto up to six surfaces at once. The projected image becomes interactive thanks to a laser beam that scans the image line-by-line, detecting when and where fingers or other gestures interrupt it.
One use case is to project a screen onto the door of a wardrobe, which displays the weather and your calendar then suggest the types of clothes you might need to wear depending on these variables.
The buttons could theoretically be anything, and the projector could create sliders as well, so a fridge manufacturer could use it to help you track expiration dates and keep up with your groceries. Or getting back to the clothing specific demo it could suggest stopping by the dry cleaner when it knows you have enough dry clean only items in your laundry basket. The projector could also broadcast images of weather, or the news and social media.
While this isn’t a product that’s you’ll be able to buy just yet, the implications of the tech are pretty interesting. It’ll be ready for manufacturers early next year, and Bosch will have a different, cheaper model called the BML100P for projections that aren’t interactive. Hopefully, the BML100PI will be integrated into cool gadgets shortly after it’s ready so you can start interacting with your shelves soon.
The device itself measures just 47 x 43 mm (1.9 x 1.7 in), making it smaller than a credit card, and consumes about 2 W of power.
At CES they also showed off PAI again, their kitchen specific solution that helps you cook delightful meals. Checkout our IFA coverage of a similar technology with a different use case!
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