Move over, Homekit: Oomi, the highest-funded smart home technology on any crowdfunding platform to date, is vying for top dog in the smart home circuit with their own secret weapon: a tablet.
Launched originally at CES and funded via Indiegogo, Oomi's vision is aimed at making home automation appealing to even the least-savvy Luddite.
"The problem with most smart home technology," said an Oomi sales specialist while giving a presentation at CE Week 2015, "is that for the average Joe, it's inaccessible and can be cumbersome on your smartphone."
Oomi's solution? Taking the smartphone out of the equation and replacing it with an Oomi tablet, simplifying and streamlining the process.
Ostensibly, the Oomi tablet serves as a single, portable source for household device and tech control, linking together software for home security, entertainment, "ambiance" (i.e., lighting) and "comfort" (i.e., temperature, humidity and so forth); the device integration is seamless.
The tablet is also notable for the ease in which new devices can be added to its Z mesh network: touching the corner of the tablet against objects allows the tablet to recognize it and add it to the system.
Also worth nothing is the Oomi smart cube, which contains seven different sensors (for UV rays, humidity, temperature and ambient light, to name a few) as well as a camera, a night vision IR, a motion detector and Wi-Fi.
CE Week 2015's consumer electronics and technology exhibits run through Thursday in New York City. More than 175 participating companies showcase what's new, along with a program of over 35 conference sessions, keynotes and workshops, at the Metropolitan Pavilion/Altman Building.
