Yeah, you read that right — somebody finally invented an invisible light switch. If installed properly, you and your family will be privy to its exact location, but your horrible in-laws won’t, and they’ll be stuck wandering around your living room in complete darkness, doomed to bashing their shins on your coffee table and stepping on your kid’s Legos. What’s that, Rita? You’d like to know where the switch is on the wall? Well I guess you shouldn’t have bought me a gym membership as a wedding gift you passive-aggressive sociopath. It’s payback time.
Here’s how this glorious invention supposedly works. Just like the screen on your smart phone, the iOn switch is controlled by a capacitive switching system, or in other words, tech that reacts to touch. The difference, however, is that iOn’s capacitive field is considerably bigger than that of your phone, and actually extends beyond the surface of the device. So, when your finger, hand, elbow (or any other part of your body for that matter) enters the field, it disrupts it and tells the switch to activate or deactivate.
The coolest part is that it’s more than just a miniaturized version of that touch-sensitive lamp your grandma has on her end table — the creators actually added a some other features to make it more functional and useful. In addition to activating the switch with a wave of your hand, you can also make lights dimmer/brighter by simply holding your hand inside the field and adjusting its proximity. And of course, if you’d prefer not to get up off the couch and wave your hands, you can also control iOn from afar via a companion app for iOS and Android.
As it’s roughly the same size as a traditional switch, iOn can easily replace just about any standard light switch in your home. You can install it flush on a wall with a faceplate to remind you where it’s located, or go the ninja route and install it invisibly inside a wall, under a desk or table, inside a cabinet, or even in the headboard of your bed.
The project is shooting for a rather ambitious $100K goal, but it’s already a third of the way there and has the better part of a month to make the rest, so it’s still got a decent shot. If you back the project now, you can lock down an iOn switch for the early-bird price of $40 bucks, or pick up a pair of them for $80. Find out more here.
(Image © Peshkova via Shutterstock)
