The way we interact with our smart home devices is about to change thanks to new software that introduces touchless gestures and presence detection.

At Mobile World Congress, Elliptic Labs AS introduced a new way for consumers to interact with smart home devices. Forget about voice control, think Jedi powers. The company’s new EASY IoT (Internet of Things) software introduces touchless gesture control to your connected home devices such as smart thermostats, kitchen appliances, lighting controls, and security systems to name a few. It uses ultrasound technology to control gadgets with conductor-like ease.

At MWC, Elliptic Labs will demonstrate how EASY IoT works on a connected lamp, smoke detector, and wireless speaker. EASY IoT will be offered to mobile manufacturers in hopes of building in the technology for as many core devices as possible. The more ubiquitous EASY IoT, the broader its market reach. This tactic relies heavily on willing business partners and will require transparent methods for sharing data sets and open source technology. This would ideally result in consumer adoption through necessity instead of heavy marketing and backward integration.

“By working closely with mobile OEMs and their IoT innovation departments, we enables consumers to easier connect, control, and interact with IoT devices” explained Laila Danielsen, CEO of Elliptic Labs. “Ultrasound is such a versatile yet robust technology that creating solutions for home use, as we are demoing today, is just the beginning”.

How it works

EASY IoT uses ultrasonic presence-detection to wake up devices and enable touchless gesture capabilities. When a connected device with EASY IoT detects the presence of a person or a hand, the device will go into active mode, waiting for your gesture command. The user then does specific movements or hand gestures to control the device from turning it on or say changing the temperature on a smart thermostat.

EASY IoT can be embedded in any device and OEMs can assign any meaning to a gesture depending on the application and the location where the gesture is performed.

Better than others

According to Elliptic Labs Product Manager Guenael Strutt, ultrasonic touchless gesture technology is superior to other approaches, such as optical or infrared sensors, because it uses sound waves, microphones and transducers to sense or detect movement, similar to how radar works to detect objects.

Ultrasound is better suited for detecting approaching objects than infrared because of some basic physics principles. First because light travels faster than sound, infrared relies on signal amplitude to detect proximity; sound waves are much slower and easier to capture compared to light, making it a more accurate measurement for touchless gesture control. Second, a number of factors affect infrared sensors such as other light sources producing infrared, and even LED reflected by a smartphone’s screen. Moisture or sweat on the screen, and even screen protectors can cause false positives to occur. Strutt claims that these factors do not affect ultrasound waves.

Another thing that makes ultrasound better is that the technology uses up to 95 percent less power and works in low lighting conditions, unlike image-based gestural systems currently used.

Ultrasonic technology can also deliver full 3D interaction around a device at 180 degrees. This exceptionally wide interaction zone together with low power consumption and functionality in any lighting condition make it a strong contender for use in connected devices of the future.

It’s like using the force to make things do stuff for you.

Learn more about this ultrasonic technology by watching the video below:

Image via Elliptic Labs AS