Smart homes are the future. We know about automated door locks, security systems, automated lighting systems, and air-conditioning with programmable thermostats. But what about light—that natural form of energy that affects our mood, productivity and concentration?
The natural light through a window has a calming effect, while the lack of light—artificial or natural—can trigger depression.
Light filtering through the windows also dictates the overall temperature of a room. Too much light can heat up a room, while less light can keep it cooler.
Intelligent shades
With these in mind, Hunter Douglas came up with programmable window coverings called PowerView. By adding or blocking light, one creates the right ambiance to stay alert or relax.
With the device’s exclusive PowerView app for iOS and Android, one can filter natural light into one’s home or wherever one is, even if one is away from home, according to the desired setting.
One can send an instruction directed at the shades, tell them to move, and the shade will move and give a feedback in real time.
“This product is much more than just a curtain,” said James Sia, general manager for Hunter Douglas Window Covering Products and Licensing for Asia. “These are intelligent shades that give you beautiful window treatments. You can control multiple shades in the room, multiple rooms at one time, or all the shades at home.”
The Hunter Douglas brand, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of high-quality innovative window treatments, has been around since the 1940s when its namesake collaborated with Henry Sonnenberg on the production of Venetian blinds.
From homes to offices, Hunter Douglas not only provides shade but has also adapted to the consumer’s varying lifestyles and self-expression through the years.
Motorized system
PowerView has a motorization system that operates on a discreet and quiet motor. It has a precise operation, whether up, down, tilt or traverse, and flexible schedules so one can quickly create customized scenes that control all the shades in the house—to operate together or in any desired combination.
It’s energy-efficient, saving you up to 40-percent energy, said Sia, and child- and pet-friendly with its simple, battery-powered and cord-free operation.
It has a stylish, handheld control called Pebble Remote, or with a wall-mounted Surface Remote. One can set a unique collection of personalized scenes, name, color-code, and organize them. For instance, one can greet each morning with the shades in the bedroom and kitchen opening up slightly to let the sunlight in, in perfect synch to the user’s morning activities. By evening, one can have the entire home close out the day to ensure privacy.
Window treatments move with the user’s mood, style and natural light requirements.
“Worldwide,” said Sia, “we see a growing trend in smart home technology… In the recently held biggest annual Consumer Electronics Show in the US, it was all about connected home technology. Connectivity and integration is a trend now.”
In the Philippines, Focus Global Inc. is the exclusive licensee with its own showroom at the 12/F, Twenty-Four Seven Bldg., Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. Contact 7059999 loc. 654, e-mail hdwcp@focusglobalinc.com. Visit ph.hunterdouglas.asia or facebook.com/hunterdouglasph.