Who fancies an interactive plank of wood for a thousand dollars?

[editor]

Use the plank to control your home's smart devices or ask Google Assistant questions
Both an exercise in minimalism and an unintended satire on our obsession with all things ‘smart’, Mui’s plank of wood is an elegant piece of design. Turned off, it looks like something you’d see leaning against the wall in your shed. Graze its touch-sensitive interface and, well, it still looks like that, but also works as a hub for your home’s various internet-connected devices.

Cleverly, the Mui embeds its LCD display into the wood itself. Tap on the plank and a home screen will appear, including information about the weather and time. Cycle through the icons and you’ll be able to control a room’s lighting, temperature, etc; connecting to Sonos, Nest and Philips Hue devices.

It can also receive and display text messages, and comes with Google Assistant in-built. The downside is that Mui’s plank has nothing in the way of a speaker, so your queries are instead answered by text displayed on the wood. There’s a microphone to take your voice commands, but you’ll need to press the display to wake it up when you want to ask a question.

Mui’s home hub is an internet-connected plank of wood

 

[Pickman's model]

one for SpookyFrank

 

[8ball]

I can see it having some application in terms of something embedded into kitchen furniture etc.

Not so much as just a single plank.

 

[SpookyFrank]

one for SpookyFrank

You are starting to damage my calm.

 

[alsoknownas]

Well I prefer it to the standard home hub design, but I think they'll have to take a hack-saw to the price.

 

[Fez909]

Well I prefer it to the standard home hub design, but I think they'll have to take a hack-saw to the price.

I wood knot pay that for it, but replacing ugly black slabs in the living room with this kind of thing could spruce up the place a bit.

 

[alsoknownas]

Make your own timber / timbre joke here if you can be bothered (I clearly can not) .

 

[souljacker]

I think it's quite nice, just very pricey. And that bloke in the video had to get up off the sofa to change the thermostat, which is so last century.

 

[klang]

can a burger get served on it (interactively, of course)?

 

[trabuquera]

Soon, calling someone an "absolute plank" will be a compliment to their well-connected intelligence.

 

[editor]

I think it's quite nice, just very pricey. And that bloke in the video had to get up off the sofa to change the thermostat, which is so last century.

It needs speakers though. It would be great to bark instructions at a plank of wood and have it talk back to you.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

 

[NoXion]

It needs speakers though. It would be great to bark instructions at a plank of wood and have it talk back to you.

Talking bass is funnier.

 

[danny la rouge]

I’m well ahead of the game here. I have a length of dowelling. I use it for turning the light on.

 

[Pickman's model]

Soon, calling someone an "absolute plank" will be a compliment to their well-connected intelligence.

calling someone an absolute planck is already a compliment to their intelligence

 

[Chilli.s]

I have a few interactive planks for sale too. They aren't as fully featured as this but are much cheaper. Cash only...

 

[blairsh]

The thought of this doesn't give me wood

 

[Gromit]

It's nice but for a grand you'd except something better than a ugly power cord dangling from it.

I'd incorporate it into a rail across the whole wall rather than a lone floating plank.

More video of it on the BBC news tech pages. It was at CES.