More than a year ago we wrote how the Dutch startup Athom was making their product Homey ready for the market. They raised 1 million euro to develop Homey: a device that connects with many different electronic devices in your household, such as your lights, television, or oven. The founders of Athom kept their word, as Homey is now available to anyone in shops such as Mediamarkt and iCentre.
Comfort to the max with Homey
Imagine yourself on your way home. You take your phone from your pocket, open an App that is connected to Homey, and say: “Preheat oven, please”. When you arrive home, you open the App once again: “Turn on lights please, blue colour. Ah, and turn on the heater as well”. A few minutes later you step inside a warm house, the lights are already on as you walk to your preheated oven that is now ready for use.
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Hard work has paid off
This is not a scene from a science fiction movie. It is a real accomplishment of two 24-years old technology geeks from the city of Enschede in the east of the Netherlands. The last two years they have been working hard to develop and produce Homey, and they are very excited to finally see their product in the shops. Co-founder Emile Nijssen: “The last years we worked extremely hard to lift Homey to the highest level, and now we are ready to really launch it”.
Homey is 100% Dutch
A few things are quite remarkable about Homey being available in stores now. First of all, the development process started with a Kickstarter campaign. Through Kickstarter Athom raised a starting capital of more than €200.00. Also, Athom is a fully Dutch invention, and according to the founders, a product such as Homey is not even available yet in the United States. Co-founder Stefan Witkamp: “This proves that innovation and fancy products do not always have to come from Silicon Valley. Homey is designed, developed and produced in the Netherlands.”
Fancy toy or real solution?
So the Homey has now made it to stores and you can buy this fancy luxury product for €299. That may be a little bit above your budget, but this little robot can do amazing things in your home. No doubt that the Homey really is a remarkable and highly intelligent technological development, but at the same time one might wonder if we really need to lift our comfort to this level. Although for a lot of people Homey may be a fancy toy that will only make them lazier, it could also improve the quality of life for the elderly and/or the disabled. For them, this device might be a solution to a real problem. They, more than anyone, could become homies with Homey.
