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mui: 'Calm' Interface Device Made of Natural Wood

“mui” is a "calm design" smart display for distraction-free smart home lifestyle.

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mui: 'Calm' Interface Device Made of Natural Wood

mui: 'Calm' Interface Device Made of Natural Wood

mui: 'Calm' Interface Device Made of Natural Wood

mui: 'Calm' Interface Device Made of Natural Wood

mui: 'Calm' Interface Device Made of Natural Wood

“mui” is a "calm design" smart display for distraction-free smart home lifestyle.

“mui” is a "calm design" smart display for distraction-free smart home lifestyle.

“mui” is a "calm design" smart display for distraction-free smart home lifestyle.

“mui” is a "calm design" smart display for distraction-free smart home lifestyle.

mui Lab ,Inc.
mui Lab ,Inc.
mui Lab ,Inc.
mui Lab ,Inc.
2 Campaigns |
Kyoto-shi, Japan
$145,652 USD by 330 backers
$114,696 USD by 278 backers on Dec 8, 2018 with another platform
Highlights
Mountain Filled 2 Projects Mountain Filled 2 Projects

What is mui? 

“mui” is a "calm design"  smart display  for  distraction-free smart home lifestyle.  
 

(日本語サイトはこちら)

mui is a wooden touch panel that serves as a smart home control hub. Designed as a distraction-free “calm design” interface for the post-smart screen era, mui enables users to focus on their tasks at hand and be in the moment while staying digitally “connected.” mui is the first product of mui Lab, which draws inspiration from the Taoism philosophy of “mui shizen” works to develop calm design devices and systems that can create a harmony among technology, the humans who use and the nature surrounding them.

 

Why mui ?

1. Enables distraction-free digital communication. Allows us to be more mindful readers, more creative artists and better families.
2. Easy way to talk with your family, check news, weather, calendar information and more. No need to reach for your smart phone(s).
3. Hustle-free way to control connected devices, including smart speakers and smart appliances.
4. Work with Alexa or Google Assistant via IFTTT integration.
5. Less time looking at your phone and more time to spend with your family.

 

Want to know how mui works? Take a look at these short movies.

 
 

 

 
 

Enjoy distraction-free family time.
Unlike smartphones, mui doesn't get you hooked on it.

a family with mui (mui is not activated)
mui for family life (mui in the photo is in sleep mode.)

We aim to solve one of the biggest issues in today's society: Everyone is looking at their phones at the dinner table. 

mui enables you to enjoy a mindful life and spend quality time with your family. It helps you keep a healthy distance from social media, so you won't be endlessly on the phone -- an important digital life management skill for children to learn.  

We'd like to resolve ATMOSPHERE of nomophobia  -- as in no- mo(bile) phone-phobia- 

 

We are aiming to provide a solution to nomophobia – as in “no-mo(bile) phone-phobia. We believe “technology” can become synonymous with “calm” and “quiet.” mui can be a tool to create a serene living space while keep you connected.

Digital native kids and smart device
Digital-native kids and smart devices

Calm Design Device

mui is an interactive wood panel that is activated by swiping your finger across its surface. Using the digital display that appears on the wood surface, you can talk, send and receive messages, and check the news and weather. You can also control connected devices in your home, office or public spaces, like lighting, thermostats, and so on. When you are done, the panel goes back to sleep mode and looks just like a piece of beautifully sanded wood again.   

mui at our friend's home in OSAKA, JAPAN
mui at our friend's home in OSAKA, JAPAN

 

In accordance with calm design principles, mui aims to minimize the “noise” of technology and create a calm and peaceful environment for you to live in while providing just the right kind of convenience catered to your needs.

mui beta at our friend's home in Osaka, JAPAN
mui beta at our friend's home in Osaka, JAPAN

Press Coverage

At CES2020, mui had great responses from media and audience! 

mui has been covered by Tech Crunch, CNET, The New Yorker , BBC, Le Figaro , The Verge  as a one of very unique and meaningful product in the technology world. 

We're awarded "Best of CES2020" by House Beautiful.  

mui was selected one of the 5 biggest tech trends at CES2020 by CNET.

 

 

                                                             

 Here is the link to the Gizmodo Japan, CNET Japan, AXIS, core77 articles.

Finishes

Natural & Dark

 

 

How it works 

Text Messaging & Voice Mail between family and home

Event Sharing for family matters, birthday, anniversaries and more! 

Weather News 

Night Mode for "Calm" moments

Smart Home Controls such as lighting, music, thermostat and more!  

mui is designed as cloud connected hub, mui will be automatically updated with new functions! 

mui applications

bed room installation (image)

bed room installation (image)

 

OUR STORY

At mui Lab, many of our team members are in our late 30s and early 40s and have busy family lives. We all struggle to balance our precious family time with the demands of technology. Instead of playing and talking with our children, we found ourselves glued to our phones and computers, desperately trying to “connect” with others. This saddened our children and disconnects us from our spouses.

mui Laboratory in Kyoto, JAPAN
mui Laboratory in Kyoto, JAPAN

Personal Stories    

mui in Hirobe’s home | Nobuyasu Hirobe (Co-Founder, Creative Director) 

Hirobe
Hirobe

Whenever leaving the office late at night, I send a good night message to mui for my 7-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter. That always makes them happy.  

My daughter is mesmerized by the light slide dimmer switch that appears on mui. She slides it back and forth over and over, trying to figure out how the lighting in the room is connected to mui, turning the lights up and down every time she moves her little fingers. Her brother wants his turn, too. They fight for the switch and never seem to get tired of playing with it.

My wife’s approach to mui is more practical. She wanted to be able to turn off the last light from inside her bed at night. So, I used mui’s settings to make it happen for her.

She likes having mui within arms’ reach, so she can easily check the weather forecast in the morning when deciding what to wear.

We use a beta version of mui in our house. When I was removing mui to update it the other day, our kids had worried looks on their faces and asked: “Are we losing mui?” Apparently, mui became a necessity for my son.

mui Lab’s Creative Director Nobu Hirobe was thinking about mui being in a public gathering place when developing the concept for the device. He believed people, not the device, need to be the focus of the space.

mui at Oki’s home | Kaz Oki (Co-Founder, CEO)

Oki
Oki

My wife often comes home late from work. Exhausted and ready to “unplug,” she turns to “mui-san” (the nickname for mui in our household) to get done only what she wants and nothing more. For example, the weather forecast would quickly appear on mui and then disappear, letting us gently slip into dreamland. She loves having just the right level of access to technology with mui-san, instead of the glowing phones we used to look at before going to bed.   

Because mui lets us to control the lighting and appliance from another part of the house, the layout of the home no longer dictates our behavior. But we still wanted more from mui, including an option to shut off all lights with a touch of a button. This prompted us to develop the “Do Not Disturb” feature, which keeps the device on airplane mode until the alarm goes off in the morning.

mui Lab’s CEO Kazunori Oki is a newlywed. His and his wife both lead busy professional lives and typically have just three hours together each day. Oki did not want to waste any part of those three hours looking at his phone. mui was a perfect solution to this problem, and helped the couple stay connected.


Conclusion

mui is designed to create a modern living and work space where humans can thrive without being conditioned by technology. The intention is to stop technology from continuously demanding our attention, pulling us away from our loved ones while we try to enjoy our personal time. We can be more mindful readers, more creative artists, better families, thanks to the boundaries mui sets around our personal space and time.

Our homes will undoubtedly grow “smarter” as technologies further advance. There will always be some level of gaps between how technology works and how humans are meant to live. Still, mui empowers people to live their lives in the way they want by minimizing technological barriers. We envision mui as a tool which will help you create your desirable lifestyle, just like your favorite furniture which you choose to design your living space.


Team: Assembly of Experienced Technology & Design talents 

Tech Team

Our NEW CTO Mr. Mune Sato used to work  for MIT Media Lab as a human-computer-interaction specialist! 

We have been gathering Japanese tech talents! 

Mune Sato: CTO(EX-MIT Media LAB) 

Yutaka Kobayashi : Software Architect (EX-SONY)

Takuya Kubota: Software Architect (EX-EPSON)

Taka Yamamoto : Hardware Architect (EX-Fujitsu TEN) 

Masao Takahashi: Application Architect (EX-GOOD PATCH)

Shinya Tsuchiya: Hardware Engineer (NISSHA)  

Design Team

Nobu Hirobe : Creative Director (EX-NISSHA, Zen minded- Minimalist,Dream Creator) 

Mark Nomura: Industrial Designer 

Mandy Meissner: UX and Service Designer 

Koki Nishikawa : Industrial Designer 

Toru Okada | COO
Shinichi Tanaka | CFO
Jun Shibata | Hardware Engineering

Chandler Pierce | Architecutre Concept / Advisory
Eiichiro Imamura | Furniture Design / Advisory
Hiro Kamada | Movie Director
Hiroko Sato | PR Global
Side : Yohei Oki | Design Support
Tamotsu Ito | Arcitecture Concept / Advisory
Togo Kashu | Photograph
Yuki Higoshi | Movie / Photograph
Yuji Hasegawa | Movie / Photograph
Don Lindsay | Advisor

Use Cases 


Design

-Color, Material and Finish(CMF)

mui was trying to hide all product surface into space. 
We have tested multiple times integrating mui function into architectural wall. But this trial was too early to be used. We have changed our mind to make object first to investigate future possibility of mui. 

mui dimmer prototype  in the wall which is our final goal

Prototype mui dimmer in the wall -- which is how we want mui to eventually look like. Integrating electronic components into wood is not an easy process. We've been working on this project for the past 2+ years.

mui discoveries of materials
How we selected wood as the material for mui

 
We consider mui as an interior design piece. We wanted mui to blend in with other furniture in the room. Because of that, we considered all kinds of natural stuff -- such as fabric, glass, stone, and wood -- as a potential material for mui. In the end, we concluded wood was the best material for mui because of its place in human history.
Our team developed the concept of the product during our trip to the HIDA forest region in central Japan, which has been the hub of artisan woodworking since the 7th Century. 

mui team journey to HIDA Forest
mui team's journey through the HIDA Forest

We learned about stories that illustrate the relationships between wood and those who use it and how the lifestyle of the forest region is rooted in the nature that surround the residents. Yes, nature, not digital technology nor data. We felt mui needs a story of its own that shows its connection to nature. 

Touch Wood! Knock on Wood!
"Knock on Wood"

 mui fuses nature with the digital world.
What's special about mui is that it's almost entirely made of natural wood (except for the electronic components).  We know how electronic smart devices are making our homes feel cold and sterile. By using wood as the material, mui can create a peaceful and relaxing space. The beautiful look of the sanded sycamore grains blends in with the room’s décor and furniture, allowing you to forget the device’s existence when not using it. mui is also available in Cherry, Maple or Ash. 

 

We selected a color tone and grain pattern that provide a sense of warmth. mui features a unique stripe pattern called "Fu," which also mui more durable.

We are still deciding on darker color tones. We may select materials commonly used to make furniture, such as cherry and walnut. Once we make a decision, we will update our backers.

 USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN

Hidden Technology
Hidden Technology
QR code capability
QR code capability
 project video thumbnail
 
 
When wood is touched, mui will be activated.
When wood is touched, mui will be activated.

Set up & Connectivity

-Hardware setting 

mui is on the wall | a house in Osaka, Japan
mui is on the wall | a house in Osaka, Japan

There will be uses instructions. We want to make it easy to mount mui on the wall. Our hardware team and architects are working to on it.

Software / Wifi Settings/ Connecting smart home devices 

You can use the mui mobile app to connect mui to other devices and various services. 
The app will be for both iOS and Android. 
Here are some of the setup protocols via the mobile app. 
 
mui app is starting from iOS but we'll prepare Web-app for Android users! 
 

 

mui messaging features: 

mui app (to be released in Feb/2020)

 

IFTTT can be integrated with mui through a mobile app. We will provide mobile console images for easy setup. Smart Home Gadgets and IoT devices can be connected via this app.

 

officially ready for IFTTT

https://ifttt.com/muilab
 
mui has been officially ready for IFTTT since Summer 2018. Via IFTTT, mui can connect with Google Home, Amazon Echo, Facebook, Twitter, Slack, Uber, Ring, Domino’s Pizza, Sonos, Philips Hue, New York Times News and other Smart Home Gadgets and Services. Please feel free to customize mui with your preferred applications. Triggers and Actions will be extended in the future.

mui can also be connected to Google Home and Amazon Echo ecosystems via the cloud and API.

Alexa & Google Home
Alexa & Google Home

Engineering Specs

mui 1st 

Product Dimension: W585.8xH78.5xD26(mm) / W23*H3.1*D1.0(inch)                                              item Weight: 850g (1.9lbs)
Input: mui Material Capacitive Touch Panel System 
Network: Wi-Fi:IEEE802.11.b/g/n/ac 2.4Ghz/5GHz
Bluetooth:4.2/BLE                                                                                                                                          Microphone: 1 installed 
Speakers: 2 installed 
Power Source Type: AC100-240V(50Hz/60Hz) 

Timeline

Mass-Production is starting now. 

For Japan Domestic backers : Starting Jan 29/2020

For overseas backers : Starting mid-Feb/2020

Based upon delivery location, shipment timeline will be varied due to several reasons such as custom clearance / procedures. 

 
 
 
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Choose your Perk

mui 1st edition dark

mui 1st edition dark

$549 USD $999 USD (45% off)
One mui 1st edition. Wood finish: Dark (Retails for $999:TBD) muiの1st editionが1台購入できます。 木の素材色:ダーク
Included Items
  • mui pre-oder
Estimated Shipping
April 2020
1 out of 100 of claimed
Ships worldwide.
mui 1st edition natural

mui 1st edition natural

$549 USD $999 USD (45% off)
One mui 1st edition. Wood finish: Natural (Retails for $999:TBD) muiの1st editionが1台購入できます。 木の素材色:ナチュラル
Included Items
  • mui pre-oder
Estimated Shipping
April 2020
6 out of 100 of claimed
Ships worldwide.

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