Smart home devices are seeping into our lives. But as the number of remotely adjustable aspects of home life grows, keeping track of all the apps that control everything could become a bit of headache — a fact which doesn’t really jive with the smart home philosophy of being as lazy as possible.
Enter “Cube,” an innocuous little box that wants to be the universal controller for your new smart life. The concept, created by the German studio Family of the Arts, is being marketed as an intuitive and tactile device, one that makes controlling a smart home so easy even your grandma could get into it.
When you tap the cube to turn it on, each blank side reveals its function in a backlit icon. Flip it so that your intended function sits atop. Twist clockwise to turn the sound / lighting / temperature up, counterclockwise to turn it down. The device can be programmed so that your gestures affect only the smart devices close by, or used as a toggle switch for the entire house.
Cube doesn’t exist yet — according to Co.Design, the company is currently searching for manufacturers to bring the product to market — but it’s certainly an elegant idea, and a glimpse into what could be the future of streamlined smart home control. Let’s just hope Cube itself doesn’t become too smart and turn our houses against us — you really can’t tell what’s going on behind those expressionless black walls.
Images via Family of the Arts