CEDIA Expo 2022 has come and gone, almost a little too quickly in my opinion. It having been my first time at the show, it was energetic to join in the height of excitement for many. With the prior year’s show caught in the shadow of emerging COVID variants, this year was set to be the true return to form for everyone. Did it capture that? Even as a newcomer, looking at the reaction and excitement of everyone at the show from attendees to exhibitors, I would certainly say so, especially from a wellness angle.
That being said, there is also a tremendous amount to cover from trends to insights to news, and over the course of the next couple weeks, we’ll aim to unpack all of that in a series of articles. For now, however, we’re presenting all of the news we had a chance to uncover while we were at the show from some of the biggest players in the home wellness category. We’ve also included links to all the other CEDIA news we covered prior to the show, in case you wanted to brush up on those developments.
In addition, this article will be updated regularly as more news from the CEDIA Expo continues to roll in, so stay tuned!
Orro Now Integrates with Hunter Douglas, Somfy, Elan
Having first targeted circadian lighting in the home, the second half of the equation finally comes together. Now boasting integrations with Hunter Douglas and Somfy motors (which really opens up the device’s access to motorized shade control) the Orro One and Orro S have full jurisdiction of the lighting in a home.
It’s not quite at the same level as the Orro One’s smart tuning and dimming capabilities, so the system won’t automatically adjust shades based on sensor readings, but that’s only for now. The team is already at work bringing that function to fruition, so we can look forward to that at some indeterminate time in the future. Additionally, the switches are now compatible with Elan control systems.
Hunter Douglas Pulls Back the Curtain on Illuminated Shades
Speaking of Hunter Douglas, its booth had a pretty spectacular showcase in the form of illuminated window treatments, and if you think that defeats the purpose of shades, envision this use case for a client:
The clouds roll in, dark as soot, and the once abundant natural light that flooded a space has now become gray and dim. Instead of cranking up the other lights, the homeowner rolls down the shades, lights behind them flick on, tuned to the average color temperature of the day at that exact moment, and now, that bright illuminated glow is what makes it into the room.
Consider it one part window treatment, another part circadian lighting. Outside of the above example, there were plenty of other use cases people noted at the show, from elevating a window with an unflattering view in the city to allowing people to lower shades for warmth during the colder months without losing access to natural lighting. The only downside is that it won’t be available until spring of next year, according to the company.
Swidget Unveils Modular Camera, Wins Two Awards
The team for Swidget apparently had aspirations for a quieter showcase of their new module at the show, until they won an award for it. Dubbed ‘Most Promising’ by our sister publication, CE Pro in its Best Awards, the newly announced security camera module definitely has a lot of potential from security to living in place applications, though its not quite ready to be purchased just yet, with the full release expected sometime next year.
The company also took home the Wellness award for its partnership with Panasonic. With the company being a well-known name in other spheres for its HVAC, dual split and ERV products, the recognition of such a partnership is noteworthy in more ways than one. For starters it does a lot to highlight the sheer potential Swidget has in creating bespoke wellness experiences in the home. Past that, it’s a stamp of approval by expert integrators themselves in a category that has often been a challenge for other integrators to break into, despite it being absolutely a part of the whole home in ‘whole-home automation.’
Josh.ai Gives a Run of Its Booth with New AVA Integration
Josh.ai had its own list of announcements coming ahead of the show (which can be accessed at the bottom of this article) but even on the floor, they had more to show. As one would imagine, the acoustics for a show such as CEDIA Expo wouldn’t be the best environment for a short throw voice recognition device. So, representatives during the demos used AVA remotes with Josh.ai integrations, a very subtle and diegetic way of showing off yet another development for the brand.
Touted as being “the perfect smart home controller,” the AVA remote offers a sleek touchscreen interface that does in your hand what most wall-mounted panels are capable of doing. It’s also capable of working within any smart home ecosystem, which falls perfectly in line with Josh.ai’s versatility.
Crestron and Delos Show off Their New Partnership
After seven years gone, Crestron came back with a massive showing, and a booth so large it deserved its own zip code. But when you’re trying to showcase an entire home’s worth of control and automation, could anything else be expected?
The company showed off its new OS, some new capabilities to go along with it, but, most notably a few new partnerships as it related to wellness in the home. Adapt Energy was added to the display to showcase smart energy management capabilities while Delos was also featured through the—new to the show—Delos Wellness Extension.
A not-quite spiritual successor to the original DARWIN wellness system, the Wellness Extension is what gives Crestron Home the ability to work with residential HVAC systems, providing air monitoring and remediation capabilities that lean on Delos’s science-backed strategy.
Prior to the show, Crestron had been pushing a greater emphasis on how its control systems can play into greater home wellness, however, the inclusion of a brand like Delos, which itself is a juggernaut in the healthy buildings space, showcases just how serious the company is on making that distinction.
RePure Opens Up Its Ecosystem for the Industry to See
This isn’t to say RePure wasn’t transparent about its partners before the show, but instead to say it was unique and welcome to have a booth that allowed myself and others to extensively tour the partners. Considering the company is all about making water and air quality far more approachable for integrators through its partner network, it definitely adds a considerable amount of value to the solution.
It makes sense with the reveal of RePure’s app, which acts as a one stop dashboard for all the information gathered across its ecosystem of products. Customization is a running theme throughout the offerings and with the unveiling of this new app, its an opportunity for integrators to create bespoke home wellness set-ups while also having direct access to expert tradespeople so the set-up and upfront knowledge requirements is drastically cut for integrators.
And Much, Much More Wellness News from CEDIA Expo 2022
In case you missed some of our other coverage on CEDIA Expo 2022, here’s additionally a list of prior news stories we have regarding all that was announced and displayed at the show with regards to wellness.
Panasonic and Swidget’s Award-Winning Partnership
The Role of Energy Management in Future Housing
CEDIA Expo Pulls in Over 11,000 Attendees in Grand Return
An Interior Designer’s Guide for the Technology Showcase at CEDIA Expo 2022
Vantage Adds Soraa Human Centric Retrofit Lamps to Lighting Alliance
2022 CEDIA Awards Winners Crowned During Dallas Ceremony
Commercial Integrator Expo to Co-Locate with CEDIA Expo 2023
Airzone Opens Way for HVAC Inverter Control on Leading Home Automation Platforms
Crestron Expands Residential Audio Portfolio with Design-Forward Options
Josh.ai Delivers Intelligent Home Control on the All-New Geneva OS
Savant Levels Up Its EV Game with the LVL 2 EV Charger
Z-Wave Brings a ‘Smart Home Playground’ with its Return to CEDIA Expo