Who needs a smartphone when you have a voice? Suggesting that the future of smart home control will center not on any device but rather on yourself is a new startup called Brilliant. Its flagship device, Brilliant Control, is branded as a “smart lighting solution that gives anyone in the house the ability to access music, climate, and other common smart home devices with just a simple touch or voice command — no smartphone required.” So put down your mobile and clear your throat — your voice is about to be heard.
Promising easy installation that takes just minutes, the Brilliant Control comes with an intuitive touchscreen that serves as the hardware hub for your connected home. But don’t worry, you don’t have to use it. Rather, you can just talk to your home, and while it won’t talk back, it will certainly listen and respond.
“While renovating my house, it was important to me that anyone in any room could adjust lighting, music, and climate control as easily as flipping a light switch,” said Aaron Emigh, co-founder and chief executive officer of Brilliant. “Requiring a mobile phone and apps to adjust your environment is clumsy, and for guests or children, it’s impossible.”
Most such systems were far out of the price range of most customers, Emigh realized, so like any good entrepreneur, he set out to create his own solution. “[Brilliant Control] is affordable, can be installed in minutes by replacing an existing light switch, and provides a beautiful and intuitive solution that everyone in the home can use throughout the home.”
Amazon Alexa is built right into Brilliant Controls, which means it’s easy to not only control various components of your smart home, but also to get weather forecasts, listen to the radio, or create shopping lists. Brilliant Control is also compatible with a host of other connected devices, including Nest, Sonos, Philips Hue, SmartThings, and more.
And naturally, you can’t expect a smart-home hub to be a smart-home hub if it doesn’t also keep your home safe, right? Brilliant Control comes with a built-in camera, privacy cover, and microphone, which makes it easy to not only add video or voice intercom to your house, but to keep an eye on things as well.
The Brilliant Control starts at less than $200 without any annual fees (with a special early-buyer price of $150), and is available for pre-order beginning February 8 at www.brilliant.tech.