This 4 input smart remote control + set top box’s interface speaks with each other!

Long and sweet, short, and cute; curvy and elegant, thin, and broad – remote controls are available in all sorts of shapes, sizes, and designs. They usually come paired with a new set of television but are also sold standalone for their charm, convenience, and elegance. Not many remotes really fall in that category but we can spare a thought for Tech4Home’s expertise in the domain. Now the brand has commissioned Pedro Gomes Design to conceive a cutting-edge remote control that offers a state-of-the-art user experience. And boy isn’t what the latter has pulled off worth grabbing instantly?

Tech4Home supplies remote controls to major brands worldwide. Now the idea here is to design a remote control and set-top box that is tailored to overcome the challenges in the content-driven interface. The solution is aesthetically appealing and almost unique in its own way yet apt to meet the evolving needs of worldwide Smart TV providers. This longish remote control has an ergonomic design, soft and welcoming shape that fills within the hand. It features a touchpad, a joystick, and also accepts gestures and voice commands. The accompanied round STB features detailing LEDs around its face and touch control buttons on the top. While the microphone on the remote lets you control the TV via voice, the touchpad allows you to swipe through menus very smoothly. Keeping in line with the present-day aesthetics of having your devices react to your commands, the remote’s interactive LED’s reacts to your voice command, and the action of the voice command is replicated on the set-top box’s LED’s – after all, getting a response to our actions is a basic pillar of our everyday communication.

In addition to offering four discrete ways to interact with the Smart TV – touch, button, voice, and gestures – the wirelessly chargeable remote and STB come meticulously packed to make a mass appeal.

Designer: Pedro Gomes Design for Tech4Home

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Japanese Convenience Stores to Get Robots to Stock Shelves

Technology and efficiency are definitely two things you’ll encounter in abundance when you visit Japan’s modern cities like Tokyo and Osaka. Now, FamilyMart one of Japan’s biggest chains of convenience stores (aka “konbini”) is aiming to increase its efficiency by adding robots to its staff.

Created by robotics company Telexistence, the humanoid robots will be used to help stock store shelves. However, these robots aren’t autonomous, they’re designed to be operated remotely by a human wearing a virtual reality headset and special controller gloves.

At first I thought this was a strange idea, because it still requires a human, but then I realized that the remote operator could be sitting at a desk at home or in a corporate office, and stock shelves at multiple locations without having to travel between them. That could definitely make things more efficient and less costly, assuming everything works properly.

FamilyMart plans on testing out some of the robots in Tokyo this summer, and then rolling them out to 20 stores or more by 2022. I wonder if and when we’ll get to the point where convenience store clerks are replaced by robots.

[via Time Out via Geekologie]

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