ShadeCraft bridges human and tech to outdoor smart homes

Los Angeles-based robotics startup ShadeCraft was established with a mission in mind: improve human life outdoors. First introduced in CES 2017, ShadeCraft‘s flagship product SUNFLOWER is depicted as “the response to a void in smart home ecosystem”. Holding the idea, Armen Gharabegian, Founder & CEO of ShadeCraft said, “We saw there was no viable robotic AI solution that enhances the way people interact with outdoor environments, and ShadeCraft is at the forefront changing the way humans and machines interact.”

Thus, SUNFLOWER is there to be the exact solution. SUNFLOWER is the first outdoor, central hub for the smart home ecosystem that communicates, entertains, protects and provides ideal shade for users－all combined in an object easily identified and already used by people.

“As a design concept to bridge the smart home gap outdoors, the parasol was an obvious solution as it provides shade from the sun and is also standard product for anyone who enjoys being outdoors,” explained Gharabegian the initial idea behind SUNFLOWER, transforming an everyday-object into outdoor smart home robot.
 

Serving as a smart robotic shading system that tracks the sun, SUNFLOWER’s most common mode of operation is completely automated. Employing a patented system of sensors and software, SUNFLOWER opens automatically and accurately tracks the direction of sun all day, charging all the way, then closes at nights.

Beyond a parasol, SUNFLOWER includes high-quality audio speakers, a voice activated user experience, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and optional cellular connectivity, motion detecting HD camera, lighting controls, charging port for external devices, and an array of embedded sensors that monitor the environment in real-time to detect weather, humidity, air quality, UV, wind, lightning and other environmental elements.

Alternatively, SUNFLOWER is controllable by voice commands with an array of far-field microphones and cutting-edge voice recognition software for a full voice experience.

Not limited to end-consumers, ShadeCraft also foresees partnerships with business clients for SUNFLOWER as AI robotics is ready for integration with smart human lives. Public occasion and open areas such as hospitality, parks and outdoor entertainment sectors, security and monitoring sectors, along with green tech and healthy living sectors are all possible for SUNFLOWER’s implementations.

“The way people relate with technology and surroundings is changing at ever-increasing speeds. We believe that robotics and machine learning is the future, and it’s already happening everywhere in big and small ways,” said Gharabegian, “ShadeCraft is at the forefront of this revolution changing the way humans and machines interact. We have spent years of research developing patented technologies to help shape a new interaction model between people, their tech, and their world.”

Gharabegian considers IoT industry still in its young infancy. With billions of products flooding the smart home market, the practicality for consumers is not yet verified. However, Gharabegian believes the IoT space will bring more maturity, usability, and most importantly, the scale in the next five years, pushing tectonic shifts in the way governments, businesses and people deal with IoT in a connected, sensing world. “This also leads to a paradigm shift in how people interact with their outdoor environments. We are proud to present SUNFLOWER, forever changing the IoT landscape outdoors,” he added.

At CES 2018, ShadeCraft is looking forward to meeting new clients, customers, and partners who are unafraid to challenge their norms and preconceptions about how robots and humans interact. “Most importantly, we want partners who care about the human condition and are serious about harnessing the explosive potential of the robotic age to truly change people’s lives for the better,” concluded Gharabegian.