Howie's own UI on MicroBot Push
Howie Cooperstein has developed an app called OnSwitch that brings advanced functionality to Philips Hue smart-lighting systems. To create and test the software, he must press the link button on the Hue Bridge many times a day.
Not only does this effort tax his wrists and try his patience, it also strains his heart from the multiple journeys to and from the Bridge.
If only an assistant could press the button for him!
Enter the assistant: the Prota MicroBot Push from Naran. This little $42 motorized button-pusher can press, double-press, press-and-hold and perform other magical button-pressing feats through an app that has become Howie’s new bff.
Being the geek that he is, Howie wasn’t content to use MicroBot’s own UI to press the Hue link button. Instead, he created a graphical overlay with an image of the Hue Bridge atop MicroBot’s push hot-spot.
It makes Howie feel like he’s actually pushing the Hue link button.
“It cracks me up every time I use it,” my old University of Michigan pal tells me.
More: Making Dumb Things Smart: 8 Very Interesting Non-Invasive Problem Solvers at CES 2017
VIDEO: MicroBot Push presses link button on Philips Hue Bridge.
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