Switches and buttons have unlocked new levels of consumer ease in the digital age. With just the tap of a button, you can order pizza, dim your lights, or even buy groceries. But the thing is, you can’t quite do anything at the push of a button yet. So to fill that gap, Japanese upstart Cerevo has created Hackey: a fully connected switch device that allows the user to program whatever action is most useful to them. At the turn of a key, the Wi-Fi enabled device cues up common activities, Internet services, and digital actions as preferred by the user.
Hackey’s API allows users to program any action to be executed when they key is turned. Some of Hackey’s use suggestions include controlling home security systems, recording employee schedules by clocking in and out with the key, or even allowing children to notify their working parents that they’ve arrived home safely from school. The idea behind connected switch products is to automate and simplify some of the actions that users do most frequently. Hackey’s open and programmable functionality allows for any number of use options, limited mostly by what users can dream up within the realm of their digital lives.
Zapier and the If This Then That (IFTTT) Maker Channel are Hackey’s main programming applications, enabling trigger signal transmission powered by their own platforms. Much like the classic IFTTT “recipes” system, Hackeys can be programmed to trigger specific digital actions every time the key in the switch is turned. LED indicators on the Hackey device also allow for direct requests from other web services that light up with notifications based on user settings. At launch, Hackey will also be compatible with myThings, a mobile app from Yahoo Japan that lets users control Internet of Things products and build integrations with existing web services.
Cerevo is the Japanese consumer electronics company behind Hackey, and already leads with a variety of smart tech products that have achieved notable success. The Hackey Indiegogo campaign will end in the third week of November, which leaves a limited amount of time for them to raise their full funding goal of $15,000. Earlybird backers can score a Hackey of their own for a pledge of $59 and Hackey plans to sell for $89 at full retail price. Cerevo has already completed the development and mass production processes, and claim that Hackey will launch later this year regardless of the success of the Indiegogo campaign.
