If loving an internet-connected block of wood is wrong, then I don’t need to be right. Mui is an interactive smart home display which will be used to control lighting, set the temperature, and show messages, all while blending into the aesthetic of the room it’s in.
Mui was made by Kyoto-based company Nissha, It’s great specializes for in capacitative touch sensors, recently used in the Nintendo Switch. It works with Philips Hue light bulbs and net led, with a lot of smart light integrations to come. It’s simply a prototype for currently, so the companion app to control the lights, and IFTTT and Alexa integrations are still in development. Currently, it uses myThings, an internet of Things service by Yahoo Japan.
The name (“Mui”) comes from a Japanese word that English meaning “silence,” that I’d say describes the design and feel of the display pretty accurately. Its design is meant to be “out of sight until required, and out of mind until utilized.” It’s a lot more stunning to appear at than different smart home product, just like the Nest Thermostat E or the Alexa-integrated Ecobee Thermostat, and if the fabric-covered gadget trend from Google Home and therefore the new Echos are any indication, smart home tech is moving toward warmth, not coldness.
Mui plans to launch on a crowdfunding website like Kickstarter around June 2018, in the $900 to $1,200 range. That is pretty hefty, but it can be worth it if you are into a minimalist-chic design. If this might be programmed to show MTA train delays, I nearly wouldn’t be mad if the information was delivered to me via this lovely wood.
We had a chance to take a look at Mui in person, and it’s pretty attractive. The version we saw was sycamore wood, but other prototypes of mirror glass, red fabric, and marble are made also. Take a look through the photos below and dream concerning how nice this would look in your housing sometime.
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