Jordan O'BrienLark-Wi is a company that has hedged its bets in the home automation market, by launching simultaneous campaigns on two crowdfunding sites; Kickstarter and IndieGoGo.
The two projects themselves differ, but both have the same goal – to make the home smarter with connected technologies.
Raising the most money was Creek, a WiFi clock that can act as a home automation and security hub, a smart alarm, a baby monitor, a phone charger, a location tracker and more.
Raising £26,000 on Kickstarter the project is hoping to ship by the winter of 2015, with customers in Europe also expected to receive their smart home devices.
The Creek is a 7in colour touchscreen that acts as a normal alarm clock, as well as displaying useful information such as weather updates.
The Creek home automation system in its most basic configuration comprises of two units, one for the kitchen/living room and one for the bedroom, with other Lark-Wi devices placed around the house for control from the touchscreen.
The Creek works with smart LED light bulbs, temperature sensors, panic buttons, smart smoke alarms and CO2 alarms – with the company utilising ZIGBEE for connectivity.
Some tasks can even be performed without the need for additional sensors, for instance customers can simply use the Creek as an alarm clock, or temperature gauge.
Creek can also act as a fast charger for the iPhone 6 and 6+, as well as select Android devices, charging them twice as fast as a typical wall-charger.
Lark-Wi also sees the Creek as a baby monitoring system, due to the built-in camera and ability to play ‘sleep sounds’.
While the Creek is trying to be all things to all people, the company isn’t putting all its eggs in one basket, with its IndieGoGo project offering something completely different.
Raising £14,000 the Lark-Wi Blueguard smashed its funding goal by 339%, with the company aiming the product at the smart lock industry – taking on the likes of August.
In recent years companies have been serving up smart locks and video doorbells left, right and centre, with the Blueguard just being the latest in this security craze.
While the Creek will already be immediately compatible in the UK and the rest of Europe, the Blueguard may struggle to gain traction this side of the pond.
That’s down to the use of a deadbolt, something the US use prominently but is a rarity in the UK.
Connecting the Blueguard to an existing deadbolt lock will then enable customers to monitor those trying to gain access, as well as doing away with the need for keys – instead opting for a pin pad.
Customers will be able to speak to those at the door, or monitor the video signal, by simply using an iOS or Android App, while a log will also be kept on who gains access and who leaves – complete with photographs.
Those not wanting to use a key or pin will find Bluetooth fobs which will unlock the door as soon as the Blueguard recognises it.
The Blueguard is scheduled to begin shipping to consumers in August 2015.
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