Knocki, A Gadget That Turns Any Surface into a Touch Screen

Knocki, A Gadget That Turns Any Surface into a Touch Screen

Knocki is a curious wireless device that turns any surface into a kind of touch screen or remote control with which to handle other smart devices at home. For example: you can raise or lower the volume of the TV by tapping on the table in the living room, or activate the alarm of the home just before leaving the house with just a few touches on the wall next to the door. We tell you in detail how this system works, which is sweeping the Kickstarter crowdfunding platform (at the time of publication of this article, it has raised more than $ 817,000, approximately 23 times more than what had been proposed).

Any surface becomes a touch screen with Knocki

To start Knocki – the wireless device, you just have to place it on a smooth surface either (such as a table, but you can also fix it to a wall). The technology installed in the device is able to detect the vibration in all that surface to detect your touches and different gestures, and thus execute the orders that you emit.

This wireless device is a fantastic idea in the field of home automation, especially if we take into account that more and more household computers become smart. Through a mobile application and Knocki, for example, it is possible to manage the intensity of the lights, raise or lower the volume of the radio or television, or even control the alarm system of the house or program and disconnect alarm clocks .

Once this wireless device Knocki is installed on the corresponding surface, you can program and store gesture and touch commands to synchronize with other smart devices in the house. From the project team propose as an idea to give two touches on the table of the room for this wireless device to carry out three actions at once: turn on the television, lower the blinds and soften the lights.

All the connections with the Knocki devices are made through the WiFi connection, so it is not necessary to have the objects at a short distance (as would happen, for example, in the case of the Bluetooth connection).

Knocki   has Improvements with respect to voice control

One of the main objectives pursued by the creative team of this wireless device is to compete with voice control systems. With the technology of identification of the commands by touch, the problems of understanding and misunderstandings are eliminated – how many times have we had to repeat our message to Siri or Google Now because they did not understand it the first time? – and several remotely manage devices at the same time. In addition, it is not necessary to disturb other people with voice commands: if your partner is sleeping, you can control the air conditioning by just tapping the wall.

At the moment Knocki is only available to sponsors who want to collaborate with the development of the project through the Kickstarter crowdfunding platform. Many of the main offers have already been sold out, but Knocki is still possible to buy one of these gadgets for 90 dollars (about 80 euros) + shipping costs.

The retail price when Knocki reaches the market will be $ 130 (about 116 euros)

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