- Buddy Technologies’ ‘LIFX’ smart-lights give way for easier lighting uses in your home, as well as connecting to popular smart-speakers Google Home and Amazon’s Alexa
- Today, Buddy landed a deal to bundle its LIFX lights with aged health care provider Umps Health
- Umps, a government funded group, uses its smart system to alert loved ones if your senior citizen relative does something unusual with their home appliances – such as not using their kettle for a week
- Effective immediately two versions of LIFX lights will be bundled with Umps systems across 50 trial locations, with the group looking to expand upon success
New-wave appliance specialist Buddy Technologies has been peddling its smart-lights for a while, but today it found a very special home with a new demographic.
The company’s ‘LIFX’ lights, which are wifi enabled, was picked up today by Umps Health – a commercial group providing aged home care solutions.
“The Umps smart home technology empowers seniors to live life on their terms – and more importantly, to stay independent in their homes for longer, which is what we all really want in older age,” Buddy CEO Adam Jahnke said.
The LIFX lights are interconnectable with other popular ‘smart’ products, such as Amazon’s Alexa, Google Home and Apple’s HomePod. LIFX users can dim, turn on and even make their lights strobe instantly.
From today’s deal, Umps will now deploy two versions of LIFX products bundled with the existing Umps systems across 50 trial locations – effective immediately.
The versions included are the ‘Mini Day’ and ‘Dusk’ light products.
The Umps system attached to home appliances can learn the morning routine of its senior citizen users. Connected simultaneously to a smartphone app, the home appliance alerts loved ones if something unusual happens.
“Our partnership with LIFX is the first of its kind for Umps,” Adam added.
“By integrating LIFX lights into our smart home platform, we add another layer of data we collect around activities in the home.”
Umps is government funded and has shown intention to deploy the LIFX solutions across further homes pending success of the trial.
According to Umps, over 80 per cent of senior citizens don’t wear their personal life-saving alarms when at home. Additionally, one-in-three people over 65 fall each year, the company states.
“This helps us to identify when a person might need support without relying on personal alarm pendants or other intrusive technologies, and expands our capability as we grow towards our target of 10,000 smart home deployments per year,” Adam concluded.
As at 1:12pm AEST, share prices in BUD are trading 4.76 per cent higher today. The shares briefly spiked at a 9.7 per cent increase before trawling downwards afterwards.
The company’s shares are currently sitting at 4.4 cents a piece in a $78.57 million market cap.