This sensible residence controller is actually a chunk of wooden

One of many enjoyable elements of being a tech journalist for over a decade is that sometimes you get to observe a very distinctive gadget go from idea to actuality — and, ultimately, into your lounge. That’s the case with the Mui Board, a wise residence controller constructed into a chunk of wooden.

The Mui was first demoed at CES in 2019, and I’ve seen it at a number of reveals through the years, in varied iterations, at all times with the promise that it will ship quickly. Nicely, this yr it did (in restricted portions!), and I lastly bought to strive one out in my lounge.

You may name the Mui Board an anti-smart show. A Raspberry Pi-based sensible residence controller with Matter help, it’s only a piece of wooden in your wall when not in use. However if you contact its capacitive floor, glowing dot-matrix icons seem, letting you management your music and lighting, set timers, view messages, and entry different data you would possibly use a wise show for.

The concept is that know-how ought to mix into your private home — be calm, accessible, and built-in, not jarring or distracting. Mui is a Japanese time period for being in concord with nature, and the system is licensed by the Calm Tech Institute. As somebody surrounded by screens and sensible shows in my residence, I’ve lengthy been intrigued by Mui’s different strategy and was excited to strive it out.

I’ve had the Mui Board second gen in my residence for just a few days now, and whereas I haven’t had an opportunity to completely put it by means of its paces, I’ve been impressed by its responsiveness, considerate design, and bold scope.

The second-gen mannequin debuted in 2023 however solely turned obtainable for buy earlier this yr on Mui and Indiegogo. At $999 (on sale for $799), the Mui Board nonetheless feels nearer to a fantastically realized idea than a mass-market product. It’s exhausting to think about many individuals spending a thousand {dollars} on a wise residence controller — however for the correct individual, it’s undeniably pleasant.

An easier sensible residence controller

Created by Japan-based Mui Labs, the Mui Board is available in two colours: pure maple or darkish cherry. I’m testing the maple model and have mounted it on the wall in my lounge, simply above my couch.

From there, I can attain up and faucet it to see the time or climate, test what’s enjoying on my Sonos system, management my Hue lights, set a timer, and see the newest headlines from The Verge through a neat RSS feed characteristic.

It’s a easy interface with minimalist icons that supply extra management than you would possibly anticipate at first look. You’ll be able to dim and switch lights on and off (no coloration altering), alter a thermostat’s temperature, mode, and fan pace, open and shut curtains and locks, and switch sensible plugs on and off. What’s completely different from different sensible residence controllers with contact interfaces is that there aren’t any advertisements, no chatty voice assistant, and no brilliant, distracting show vying for my consideration.

Out of the field, the Mui Board connects to Wi-Fi and might show the time and climate. You’ll be able to set timers, alarms, and reminders, and ship messages to different Mui boards or the Mui app. It has two small built-in audio system and a microphone for recording messages, and is powered by an included AC adapter.

Touching and drawing on the Mui Board is its greatest characteristic. It’s responsive and straightforward to make use of, and it has some pleasant options. A small cat roams across the board and adjustments path if you faucet it. There’s a piano / drum mode that turns the board right into a music machine, and also you write messages on it by hand, not with a keyboard. It looks like know-how you may play with.

For sensible residence management, the Mui Board helps Matter and integrates with Sonos, Philips Hue, LIFX, SwitchBot, Ecobee, and Google Calendar APIs, amongst others, plus a number of Japanese companies, together with Radiko and the Echonet sensible residence protocol.

Utilizing the pretty easy Mui app, I linked the board to my Sonos system, and it displayed the title of the at the moment enjoying observe, quantity, and playback controls, and I might skip ahead or again in my playlist.

As a Matter controller, it could arrange and management supported Matter gadgets immediately, with out utilizing Amazon, Google, Apple, or comparable companies. It really works with lighting, plugs, and thermostats, with locks subsequent on the roadmap.

It at the moment helps Matter over Wi-Fi, with Thread help deliberate. There’s no Thread radio onboard, so that you’ll want a third-party border router. Lighting works greatest to date, whereas the opposite classes are nonetheless in restricted testing.

I efficiently added a Meross Matter Wi-Fi sensible plug on to the board however struggled to pair some Matter gadgets, similar to my Nest thermostat, utilizing Matter’s multi-admin characteristic. I plan to do extra testing right here.

I used to be capable of join my Hue lighting setup and will activate and off all of the lights or management every individually on the board. It was pretty sluggish, nevertheless, most likely as a result of I’ve a big Hue setup, and it was utilizing the cloud API fairly than a neighborhood connection. I actually appreciated the Veil of Night time characteristic that allows you to draw a line on the board to set a timer that progressively dims the lighting.

In the end, the Mui Board is a giant button / swap for controlling your sensible residence, with the advantage of icons to information you to what you’re doing with out a brilliant display. As with every icon-based management, it takes a little bit of studying to recollect which icon does what, however you may customise the structure to place your most-used controls on the primary display and scroll by means of extra screens for extra choices.

Whereas I like the pure, furniture-like really feel, when the board is off, it barely resembles a two-by-four mounted on the wall — as if my husband deserted a DIY venture midway by means of. A rounded edge, extra sculptural profile, or small shelf accent would go a good distance towards softening the look. Additionally, there’s the problem of what to do with the cable.

I put in the Mui in our lounge, however after utilizing it for just a few days, I feel the perfect place for that is in a bed room, over a bedside desk or headboard. That’s the room most individuals wish to preserve screens out of, but nonetheless wish to management lights, locks, music, and so forth., with out reaching for a telephone or utilizing voice.

I don’t see utilizing Mui Board solely as a wise residence controller; its software program doesn’t really feel fairly there but for creating scenes and automations. However as an interface to your sensible residence, it’s a breath of recent air. And as a enjoyable system for controlling music, setting timers, and enjoying the piano, it’s profitable, if very, very costly.

It’s been a sluggish burn to get the Mui Board to the place it’s in the present day, and I’m intrigued to see the place this considerate firm takes its calm tech idea subsequent. Mui Labs might be at CES once more this yr, the place the corporate plans to debut a brand new well-being-focused sleep expertise and “movement-based lighting management” for the Mui Board.

Pictures and video by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge