Bond is making it a lot easier for dealers to showcase the brand’s functionality for both indoor and outdoor projects with the introduction of specialized showroom kits at IWCE 2026. Alongside the kits, the company has also announced a new lighting strip controller built to function within the Bond control platform.
According to Bond, the idea for the showroom kits was spurred largely by dealer requests. The kits themselves can be used either in dedicated showrooms or on the road, adding a layer of flexibility to demonstrations befitting of the current reality most integrators face when it comes to demo spaces in general.
What’s Included in Bond’s Showroom Display Kits
According to Bond the showroom display kit will come in two varieties: the indoor kit and the outdoor kit.
The indoor kit consists of the Bond Bridge Pro, Sidekick for Shades Gen5 on-wall wireless keypad and Mate Pro smart universal hand-held remote control.
The outdoor kit includes these and adds Bond’s Breeze Pro ultrasonic wind/rain/sunlight sensor and new Firefly Pixel and Aura lighting controllers.
According to Bond, each of the kits can be powered-up for live demonstration of the different control devices with no dedicated infrastructure needed to support them. In theory this means that these kits can be incorporated as part of a traveling “showroom” that can be deployed in the field.
Firefly Aura and Pixel RGBWC LED Lighting Strip Controller Features
Operating in the 2.4 GHz WiFi range, Firefly Aura and Pixel add LED color-adjustment capabilities to RGBWC LED strips on the Bond platform up to 100 watts. This control extends across Bond’s smartphone App, Sidekick for Shades wireless keypad and the Mate Pro outdoor remote.
These adjustments can also be made via voice control through the Bond Home App’s integration with virtual assistant platforms like Amazon Alexa, Google, and Josh.ai.
The difference between the two controllers is what they can manage. Aura can manage a single zone of common lights (PWM 6 wires) whereas Pixel can manage multiple zones of addressable lights.
If paired with the Bond Bridge Pro RF-to-Wi-Fi gateway, both controller can also integrate with home automation systems.
Why Integrators Should Take Note
CE Pro’s 2026 State of the Industry report found that only 35% of custom integration firms own a dedicated commercial showroom with 55% having no dedicated showroom space to speak of. The remaining 10% reported using their home office as a makeshift showroom.
For those that do leverage showrooms, there is a noted level of sales tied directly to that in-person demo experience. However, not every integration firm is going to have the resources to establish a showroom and reap those benefits. That limitation can provide a hurdle for firms looking to demonstrate the capabilities of lighting and shading systems.
As a category traditionally handled by electricians for the sake of cost-effectiveness and efficiency, being able to justify the uptick in cost through performance to both clients and trade partners is critical, and showrooms or demo kits can assist greatly in this.
Still, demos and displays are only part of the equation, as, without the right messaging behind it, the performance will still fall flat.
