If you’ve considered automating your home curtains but shied away because of the cost of most retrofit systems, a new device could be the solution — if you can hang on till June 2017. Slide is running a Kickstarter campaign for its eponymous Slide retrofit smart curtain system.
A single Slide unit works with one set of horizontal curtains. Using an associated smartphone app, you can schedule or immediately close or open one or multiple sets of curtains. You will also be able to configure how far curtains should be opened or closed for partial or gradual movement. The Slide controller components attach behind the curtain at each end of the rod or rails and to the middle curtain hooks. A wire extends between the sides and middle of the window to physically pull the curtains open or closed.
According to the company founders, a full complement of up to 20 Slide smart curtain controllers can be installed on a home network. The curtains can be controlled with a smartphone app or with If This Then That (IFTTT) recipes, the standard for integrating and controlling internet-connected smart home devices. The Kickstarter campaign page notes that the next step will be to develop the app. With IFTTT recipes, Slide intends to build skills for both Amazon Echo and Google Home voice control.
Suggested uses of the Slide curtain control system include connecting bedroom curtains to a smart phone alarm clock, automatically opening and closing curtains at sunrise and sunset, and closing curtains automatically when everyone leaves the house to conserve cooling and heating energy. The latter works with geo-fencing, which detects people’s locations via their smartphones. Another application of smart curtains is to have them open and close at random times within defined ranges to give the impression the house is occupied while you’re traveling or on vacation.
With 22 days to go in the Kickstarter campaign, the Slide smart curtain system had already almost tripled its all-or-nothing goals, with close to a thousand backers pledging almost $117,000. The super early deals were snapped up, but you can still preorder a slide system for a single set of horizontal curtains for $73. Delivery is estimated for June 2017.
