Panasonic and Swidget’s Award-Winning Partnership

Nick Boever:

Chris, Don, thank you for joining me today.

Chris Adamson:

Thanks, Nick, it’s good to be here.

Don West:

Thanks, Nick, appreciate it.

Nick Boever:

So I think before we get into our talk why don’t you guys introduce yourselves to the audience?

Chris Adamson:

Yeah. My name is Chris Adamson. I’m one of the co-founders of Swidget Corp., and I also head up the product development team with all of our new products and modules that we have released, and aim to release in the future.

Don West:

And I’m Don West from Panasonic. I’m the product manager for the Indoor Air Quality Division.

Nick Boever:

All right, cool. So I wanted to talk to you guys today … And, again, first off thank you for joining in so soon after CEDIA. I know everybody is probably slammed with just getting everything back in order after a trade show like that. And I have to imagine it’s twofold with you guys, considering that you won, essentially, two awards at the show this year for the CE Pro BEST Awards?

Chris Adamson:

Yeah, it’s been a lot of work since we’ve come back catching up on emails and following up on leads but it’s been great so far.

Nick Boever:

So how does it feel to have been able to win two awards at the show?

Chris Adamson:

So from our perspective at Swidget it’s been amazing. Hugely validating to get the recognition through the award from CEDIA, for both the video camera and for the ventilation piece that we were showing at the show. From the camera it represents a very welcome addition to the Swidget lineup. We have a number of sensors and convenience inserts already that work with the system but the camera represents, for us, that next step into something a little bit more comprehensive, in terms of the functionality that it offers. And so to get the validation from CEDIA was a huge win for us.

Don West:

And from Panasonic’s standpoint we were thrilled to have Swidget as our partner and in winning the Wellness Award it’s really an outstanding achievement. Our ventilation products combined with the Swidget smart controls really have been working well and we look forward to winning more awards together.

Nick Boever:

I’m looking forward to it too. I actually got introduced to not only Swidget but the partnership back in KBIS, so it’s been great seeing you guys really grow within the industry; especially considering I know HVAC and air quality those are all kind of like fairly new to custom integration, and so it’s great to see, like you said, that recognition from some of the industry leaders that you guys are doing good with your work.

Chris Adamson:

Absolutely.

Don West:

Yes. Absolutely.

Nick Boever:

So I guess, with that being said, you had mentioned that you introduced a new camera to the mix of your modules. Would you mind going into a little bit more detail surrounding that?

Chris Adamson:

Yeah. So what we’ve done with the camera is effectively miniaturized an HD video camera into the form factor that can be received by the Swidget wiring devices. Really what we’ve tried to do with Swidget more broadly is to offer products that don’t contribute to clutter in the home. Things that don’t have wires, or that exist on tabletops or surface tops. Being able to discreetly put these sensors, and other devices, into the wiring devices, which are some of the most ubiquitous things that are around, really allows that cleaning of spaces to get rid of that kind of clutter.

Chris Adamson:

And with the video camera we’ve tried to make it as full featured as we could to be comparable to some of the other cameras that are available on the market. So it has a full 1080p sensor capability, it has night vision, it will have motion tagging, and all of the other features that you would expect from a camera.

Nick Boever:

And so what are some of the use cases that you’re seeing with that camera?

Chris Adamson:

Absolutely. So obviously security is a big one, to be able to monitor your indoor spaces through the use of the camera. And when installed in our switches, at that sort of switch level height, it provides a good view of the spaces that you might be interested in. But it also can be used installed in an outlet level, which tends to be a little bit lower, and can be used as a pet cam or conversely you can use it as a baby camera in a nursery, et cetera.

Nick Boever:

Hm, it’s really interesting. I never really thought of it that way. So, Don, how about you go into a little bit more about the integrations between Swidget and some of Panasonic’s stuff? Because I think that is also a really interesting part of the partnership that you guys have going on.

Don West:

Sure. Well as part of that award that we won for wellness it’s part of our Breathe Well Complete Air Quality Solution, so with that there’s a number of products that are involved with it that are integrated with Swidget’s smart controls. Breathe Well it’s cleaning the air, it’s about the comfort of the air, it’s about fresh air ventilation. And then, again, control and sensing devices from Swidget really makes the whole thing happen.

Don West:

Our WhisperAir Repair is our spot air purifier. It deodorizes, inhibits various viruses, bacteria, et cetera. Really makes the house smell nice. I have a Newfoundland and it really helps out. He’s great but he needs a little help when it comes to odor. As far as the fresh air ventilation our Intelli-Balance 200 was integrated as well. That is our energy recovery ventilator and what that will do is bring fresh air in from the outside, filter it, and then expel bad air from the house while also converting the heat or coolness from that air. So, again, it does like three things at once. So, again, another key device.

Don West:

And then we had our WhisperGreen Select, which is one of our premier bath fans. And both the Intelli-Balance and the WhisperGreen are integrated with the Swidget smart devices, the 20/40/60, with the temp, humidity, motion sensor. The 20/40/60 timer switch, which will turn those on and off as things happen.

Nick Boever:

And now what’s the communication that these guys use? Is it like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi?

Chris Adamson:

So our devices are — our wiring devices, let me start with that, are designed to be platform agnostic. So we offer products that can be connected via Wi-Fi. We also offer products that can be connected on a Zigbee network or a Z-Wave network, as well as some emerging products that will connect via cellular or LTE. So you have a choice of what type of communication protocol you use with the Swidget devices, depending on what you’re running as a control system for the home.

Chris Adamson:

One of the inserts that I would add to the conversation, with regards to indoor air quality, is our indoor air quality sensors. So we have a device that’s look at VOCs, temperature, humidity, indoor air pressure. And that device can be located anywhere in the home and talk back to that 20/40/60 switch that Don was mentioning to be able to detect, and therefore address, any indoor air quality issues, regardless of where that air quality issue is in the home. So our broader solution provides that end-to-end detection anywhere in the house, as well as being able to call for that air exchange if it’s needed, to bring clean air into the home.

Chris Adamson:

In terms of the integration side of things I think one of the other pieces that Swidget brings to the table is the ability to integrate with some of these custom integration control systems. Swidget has recently completed the drivers necessary for us to be able to be brought into the Control4 system. We’re also working on the drivers to support Crestron, Savant, Elan, and Lutron. And those things can be expected in 2023, to be able to bring that indoor air quality piece right into the broader control systems that are of interest in this market.

Nick Boever:

Yeah. I noticed that at the show, that a lot of people are moving towards that. Where there was a company called Airzone that focuses on inverter HVACs and their big announcement for the show was that they have the new driver updates for all of the major control systems out there, which I think is really great to hear on all fronts.

Chris Adamson:

Yeah. It seems as though indoor air quality is something that is under represented at shows like CEDIA and perhaps in the custom integrator market broadly. But I think that now that Panasonic and Swidget have come together to be able to offer something that can tie into those systems I think we’re going to start to see a lot more of that indoor air quality story being told. Because it, as I mentioned, has been fairly underrated to date.

Nick Boever:

Yeah. It’s almost like, at least in my conversations, or the conversations that I’ve been able to sit in on, it seems almost like there’s kind of a confusion or an uncertainty when it comes to actually being able to integrate with the HVAC systems. Which, like you said, this partnership, and a lot of the other work that people are doing, is really kind of help bridge that gap and make it a lot easier for integrators to-

Chris Adamson:

Exactly.

Nick Boever:

… bring these systems into the smart home.

Chris Adamson:

Yeah. Agree 100%.

Nick Boever:

So I guess the question then is what got you guys introduced to each other in the first place? Like how did this partnership form?

Don West:

Well I have to say that my Canadian colleagues had actually led the partnership with Swidget and then the US followed suit with our partnership with Swidget. So, again, the Canadian group started it. And Chris can probably give you more detail on that.

Chris Adamson:

Yeah. So the partnership arose because, as Don mentioned, the Canadian Panasonic group identified a bit of a gap between the smart home controls or home automation controls and the ventilation piece. And there were no products available on the market that could bring those two pieces together. And so they had reached out to us, in large part because of our indoor air quality sensing capabilities, to see if there was a way that we could develop a switch that could interface with their indoor air quality ventilation solutions. And so we took it upon ourselves to look into that. We dug into the designs, and low and behold we were able to find a solution fairly quickly that met all the requirements that Panasonic had for pulling that ventilation piece into an automated scenario. And from there it just really expanded and blossomed with the partnership in the US going forward.

Nick Boever:

Very interesting. And so we already kind of talked about what you guys have planned as far as Swidget being able to communicate with the broader smart home ecosystem. But I also know that Panasonic, as a company, has a ton of different functions outside of just HVAC, air quality, and all that stuff. And so I was curious if you guys were planning on being able to integrate with any of the other stuff that Panasonic does through Swidget or if just for now the plan kind of is to remain within air quality?

Don West:

Well as far as our integration into other aspects of Panasonic we’re celebrating these opportunities that are going to come forward as Swidget develops more products. And, as you said, Panasonic is so diversified. Leveraging those opportunities is going to be something that we’ll have to look at as our relationship matures. So right now we’re in indoor air quality but we look forward to the new solutions that are going to be coming. And, I guess, the only … I could leave you with stay tuned.

Nick Boever:

No, that’s perfectly fine. I know it’s one of those things where … At least I, myself, having only been really privy to the American market when I was at KBIS I heard that Panasonic does a lot of door systems and that was just something that kind of blew my mind while I was there. And then at CEDIA I saw all of these automated door systems that were there, so it’s like my brain was kind of turning a little bit as I saw that.

Don West:

Yep, we’ve had … And, actually, we had the interior doors with our Canadian group they … That was actually at IBIS this year as well.

Nick Boever:

So, I guess with that being said, you had mentioned kind of stay tuned for Swidget. So let’s move over to Swidget, what are your plans, as far as modules once you launch the camera? I know the camera isn’t available for purchase right now but do you guys have anything else prepared down the pipeline?

Chris Adamson:

Definitely. There’s a long list, I won’t get into all of it. I can’t get into some of it. But there is a long list of plans for development in the future. A couple noteworthy ones that I think we will be embarking upon, once we’ve got the camera out on the market, are a more fully featured indoor air quality sensor unit. As I mentioned before our current air quality sensor is looking at VOCs primarily but the more comprehensive one will be able to look at particulate matter; it will look at carbon dioxide with a higher specificity than we are currently able to do; and be able to provide that real, full picture of what’s going on with the indoor air quality.

Chris Adamson:

In addition to that we’re actually looking towards integrating voice assistance into our modules, so that you can have these things discreetly located throughout the home without having a device sitting on a tabletop or what have you. And that will be of value and particularly in small spaces where you want to have that ability to control lighting, or other elements, without necessarily having the bulk of some of the larger devices that are available right now. And that’s just two of the conceptual devices that we have on the roadmap but certainly sensing technology is something else that we are keenly looking into, being able to provide ambient light detection and all sorts of other things.

Nick Boever:

Hm. I feel like the … At least in the use case that you just provided MDUs would probably be a very good area to use that in because I know that has been a topic of conversation in a lot of cases, especially when I stopped Crestron’s booth. They had an entire section talking about control systems, with regards to MDUs, so I think being able to incorporate these space saving elements for control is going to be very important for people that want to be able to bring that control into those spaces.

Chris Adamson:

Definitely. And with the MDU side of things that’s where we believe some of our other protocols that are supported, protocols like Z-Wave and Zigbee, seem to be favored by the property management companies that are implementing some of these technologies. Wi-Fi may or may not be available in each discreet unit. In some cases you would be relying on the tenant to be able to provide that connectivity, so that’s where things like Z-Wave and Zigbee come in where a lot of the property management systems have got their own proprietary hubs that run on those protocols. And that’s where Swidget can really provide a solution by marrying up, let’s say, a voice assistant with a Zigbee or Z-Wave module. You get the best of both worlds.

Nick Boever:

Hm, very nice. And so I guess at the end of all of this I wanted to ask too where do you guys see HVAC progressing in smart home control? Like we’re kind of … It feels like we’re kind of just on the cusp of it right now, so I’m curious to see where you guys think it’s going to go from here?

Don West:

Just a quick comment, we’re walking before we run, right? So we’re in the early stages of integration to home ventilation with smart controls. In the future I can see a full integration into whether it’s with a Savant or a Control4, or even better full HVAC capability as well.

Nick Boever:

Hm, so-

Chris Adamson:

Yeah, I think … In addition to that I think as the builders are progressing towards homes that are much more sealed the ventilation piece becomes much, much more important. So we’re sealing up these homes to improve energy efficiency and other elements, but you can’t do that without really looking at the ventilation piece as well because you’re not getting some of that fresh air coming in. So that becomes something that needs to be looked at and needs to be controlled in order to maintain healthy air, because it has such ramifications for health.

Nick Boever:

Yeah. I definitely think nowadays, especially considering I’ve been talking to a few designers and home builders in this regard, it’s kind of interesting, the fact that the idea of having an HVAC system or even a heat pump, like some kind of ventilation system in the home, is so ubiquitous nowadays among newer constructions that it’s still very … It’s always been interesting to me that these systems have never really been integrated super … A whole lot into the different smart home systems. You know usually whenever I look at a smart home project it’s a rarity and a surprise to see the HVAC system being put into the control system. And usually it’s like those types of projects end up winning awards just simply because of how extensive it can be.

Chris Adamson:

Yeah, I think we’ve seen sort of a progression in the integration side, from audio/video into now energy management is a big, big focus within the integration system. So being able to tie in your alternative energy sources or having some form of storage and capacity to align with time of use, energy rates, and things like that. The ventilation piece feels like the next natural progression for that integration side of things because it is such a huge part of any home.

Nick Boever:

I’ve honestly heard it described almost as … I heard it described a lot at the trade show actually, that integrators originally they started off in the AV industry and now they’ve kind of almost become these curators of a user experience within the home. Where they have all of these opportunities to make home systems a little bit smarter, a little bit better, a little bit more catered to homeowners and that’s pretty much like the … That’s pretty much the state of the business right now. Where it’s like they have all of this knowledge, all of this expertise and they have the ability to act as these curators to their clients.

Chris Adamson:

Definitely. You see that in just about every booth that you walk through at CEDIA. It’s a highly curated, as you put, grouping of products and services that are there to really enhance the user experience within a home.

Nick Boever:

Well I’d like to thank you guys once again for taking the time out of your days to meet with me. Like I said, I know it’s very … It’s probably still very busy over there but, again, I want to thank you and also congratulate the both of you on the two awards.

Chris Adamson:

Thanks very much, Nick, it’s been great being here with you.

Don West:

Thank you again, Nick. Again, pleasure being on your podcast.