Berg, makers of cuddly printing buddy Little Printer, have announced Cloudwash, the smart washing machine of the future.
With the team’s latest creation, the power of the cloud brings the otherwise drab world of washing machines bang up to date.
The Cloudwash uses an iPhone app that does away with the overwhelming number of options on most machines, replacing it with a simple interface designed around your everyday usage. The traditional control panel is still there too, but with a completely new layout.
Sadly it won’t be for sale– this new smart washing machine is a prototype designed to inspire others with Berg’s vision of the connected home.
Internet of Things needs smarter platforms
After raising $1.3m back in October, Berg’s refocused on cloud services for people working with connected products.
If you have any smart/connected devices in your home you’ve probably already noticed how these cutting edge devices are often dumb when it comes to interacting with the other devices around them.
While the Internet of Things is in its infancy, standardisation and open platforms are becoming more and more necessary to avoid competing closed systems and frustrating experiences for customers.
It’s that standardisation that Berg are trying to create, but to demonstrate what’s possible, they’re creating their own prototype smart devices – starting with Cloudwash.
Watch Berg’s video demo:
It turns out washing machines make a good prototype device to explore the future of the connected home.
In a video demonstration, co-founder Jack Berg explains they’re relatively easy to hack:
Washing machines have an interface board at the front which controls the buttons and dials, and a main sensor control board at the back which deals with the valves and the motor.
For this hack, Berg added an internet-connected controller board between the sensors and controls, bringing a decades-old design into the connected world.
Open platform for future devices
CEO Matt Webb hopes innovators from companies of all sizes and even Kickstarter projects will use the platform to develop connected hardware faster than ever.
The future
Sadly you won’t be able to get your hands on one of these Smart Washers in the near future. Berg won’t be releasing new hardware products– instead they want to bring their cloud services to as many ‘makers’ as possible:
We’re going to focus on making the platform solve real developer challenges, and more prototypes that lift the whole conversation around the Internet of Things