This Tricked Out Smart Home Can Talk To You, Make You Drinks, And Even Mimic A Dog Barking
Connected home startup SmartThings tricked out this beautiful home in Las Vegas to show off its new integrations with Sonos speakers, Philips hue, and Belkin WeMo.
SmartThings provides a platform so that manufacturers can make everyday objects like light bulbs, door locks, and alarm systems, smart.
At CES, SmartThings launched a new category within its mobile app called "Labs." Labs makes it possible for customers to try out new third-party devices and services that work with SmartThings.
Our favorite is the Sonos integration. With SmartThings, you can program your Sonos to greet you when you wake up, tell you the weather for the day, and then start playing your favorite news radio show. You could also protect your home by programming Sonos to play a loud siren or a the sound of a dog barking if your door opens when you're not home.
With the Belkin WeMo switch, you can also automatically get the coffee machine brewing when you wake up.
Megan Rose Dickey/Business InsiderWith Labs, you can also control your Philips hue bulbs and set them to turn on or off when certain things happen. For example, you can set your lights to automatically turn on when you come home at night. You can also control the mood lighting from within the app.
Megan Rose Dickey/Business Insider Thanks to a robot called Bartendo by Party Robotics, you can use SmartThings to automatically make you drinks depending on who's home. So let's say 5 p.m. rolls around, Sonos can start playing music and Bartendra can automatically make you your favorite drink.
Megan Rose Dickey/Business Insider This particular home in Las Vegas had a ridiculous sword located in the office upstairs. So SmartThings attached a SmartThings motion sensor to it in order to keep tabs on it. If you have kids and potentially dangerous objects located in your house, the SmartThings app will notify you if there's movement.
Megan Rose Dickey/Business Insider SmartThings CEO Alex Hawkinson holding a sword equipped with a WeMo motion sensorThere are over 1,000 devices and services that work with SmartThings, Hawkinson says, so the possibilities are really endless.
A tricked out home like the one SmartThings had in Vegas might cost you a few thousand dollars, Hawkinson says. But it's important to keep in mind that it was a massive, 7-bedroom house.
"The core scenario for the average homeowner, you can get great value out of a couple hundred dollar kit," SmartThings CEO Alex Hawkinson tells Business Insider. "But if you spend about $500 to $1000, you'll have a very well-fitted home."