Hunter Douglas, a global manufacturer and marketer of custom window treatments, has announced the availability of Aura Illuminated Shades for the custom integration channel at CEDIA Expo 2023.

Hunter Douglas says that its Aura Illuminated Shades define a new category of shading products through a three-in-one design—a traditional-looking front shade, a reflective room-darkening liner, and ambient illumination—bundled together with programmable LEDs that together deliver a customized experience that is designed to elevate the mood and ambiance in the connected home.

“At CEDIA Expo 2022, our exclusive preview of Aura Illuminated Shades generated remarkable interest as integrators sought unique, personalized solutions for lighting design, wellness and routine,” comments Scott Stephenson, senior director of product, global motorization at Hunter Douglas.

“With wellness and control remaining top-of-mind at this year’s event, we are excited to officially roll out Aura and help integrators push the boundaries of what designing with lighting and shading can achieve.”

Aura Illuminated Shades Foster Healthy Living

The company explains that natural light and systems that emulate natural light positively impact peoples’ sleep quality, productivity and overall health, but designing spaces with natural lighting comes with challenges. UV rays can damage interiors and furnishings, while excessive incoming light can be blinding and cause harsh glares, impeding comfort, Hunter Douglas points out. Because of these factors, the company continues, smart shades have gained popularity for their ability to optimize sunlight and create a balance with homeowners’ circadian rhythms.

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According to Hunter Douglas, Aura Illuminated Shades enhance the benefits of smart shades by blending smart functionality with a first-of-its-kind design to deliver daylight on demand. The built-in LED feature serves as a secondary light source that mimics natural incoming light at the window. This feature allows homeowners to control natural and artificial light, providing precise, comfortable illumination at any time and extending light into early morning and evening hours.

Hunter Douglas emphasizes that its new Aura Illuminated Shades incorporate a parabolic reflector and a reflective liner to evenly disperse the LED light from top to bottom, while a diffuser prevents hot spots. The latest Hunter Douglas solution offers users the ability to control and customize color temperatures from 2200K to 6500K, and brightness from 0% to 100%.

The result Hunter Douglas boasts is reminiscent of daylight shining through a traditional shade—a soft, uniform glow diffused through textured fabrics. The tunable white lighting supports routines and comfort—to slowly waking to a gentle, sunrise-simulating radiance. The new product line is also designed to offer homeowners an energizing midday luminance to create a comforting radiance on a gloomy day by adding light to a windowless space or setting an ambiance for entertainment.

When the LED feature is powered off, the Aura Illuminated Shades function as a traditional shade and offers the same benefits homeowners expect from their smart shades that include customized style, comfort, convenience, energy efficiency, wellness, privacy, and accessibility benefits. The room-darkening element of Aura’s design allows integrators to use them to block out light for use in media rooms and living rooms that double as entertainment spaces and bedrooms.

Some of the other elements Hunter Douglas says the new Aura Illuminated Shades provide include the reliable, scalable, two-way communication capabilities of its PowerView Gen 3 Automation. Hunter Douglas says that its new product line complements new construction and retrofit projects, and the new product line is also eligible for automation with PowerView+, a low-voltage hardwired power solution that features a quiet motor.

After installation, homeowners can use the PowerView App to personalize scenes and schedule automations that create desired moods in their homes at any time they. Additionally, users can also control their homes’ ambiance on command through Hunter Douglas’ PowerView App, Pebble Remote or through voice commands, or third-party smart home systems.

Hunter Douglas adds that Aura is available in popular shade styles such as Vignette, Stacking Roman Shades, Sonnette Cellular Shades, and Designer Roller Shades. These models are customizable by a variety of fabric options to suit the aesthetic needs of any space.

At CEDIA Expo 2023 Hunter Douglas will be exhibiting in booth #3147 where it will showcase the Aura Illuminated Shades, as well as a number of other product solutions.

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