Nanoleaf, the company known for its HomeKit-enabled triangular Light Panels, is expanding into new shapes with the Nanoleaf Canvas.
Nanoleaf Canvas features square-shaped touch-enabled panels that can be set to hundreds of different colors. With just a touch, you can activate the light panels, increase or decrease brightness, or change them to another color.
Nanoleaf's Canvas panels were initially shown off at the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show in January, but they also made an appearance at the IFA trade show in Berlin this week, where the company offered up new details on the product.
Both CNET and Digital Trends were able to get some hands-on time with the upcoming light panels and have shared some thoughts.
According to Digital Trends, the Canvas is "more versatile" than the current triangular light panels, with touch "[elevating] the product to a whole new level."
Like the existing Nanoleaf Light Panels, the upcoming Canvas panels are HomeKit enabled and can be controlled using the Nanoleaf app or various Siri voice commands. They can also be incorporated into scenes with other HomeKit products.
The Canvas attaches to walls, the ceiling, or furniture using adhesive pads, much like the current Light Panels, and users can arrange them in any desired pattern. Connectors join the squares together.
Up to 500 panels can be connected to a single base station with the Canvas, allowing for entire wall setups outfitted with the lights.
CNET was told that while the original plan was to get rid of the cross-shaped divider in the middle of the panels, the feature is now going to remain in place in the launch version of the device.
Caught up with @Nanoleaf CEO Gimmy Chu at #IFA2018 last night. The new, touch-sensitive Canvas panels are set to arrive December 1st. Here’s a peek at the latest design, with new base station controls like a shuffle button built right into one of the panels itself. pic.twitter.com/cmw5HtPIMw — Ry Crist (@rycrist) August 31, 2018
Nanoleaf has also added a button for selecting favorite presets and turning on an included microphone so the panels can connect to the music you're listening to.
Canvas will launch on December 1, with Nanoleaf planning to sell a 9-panel starter kit for $199. Interested customers can sign up for a pre-order invitation list on the Nanoleaf website.
Top Rated Comments
I kinda think I prefer the triangle ones anyway. They seem more interesting. I like that you can put in a ton of the squares, but will I honestly ever buy that many? No.
Any word on the triangular ones with touch support? I thought I remember them announcing that alongside the squares, but I don’t see anything available on their site. I’d love to get a 15 pack of those and assign different HomeKit actions to them or something.
I might buy a 3D printer though in the next few years to do some fun projects with my kids as they get older. I think most of my maker projects will involve my kids because hands on learning always worked best for me growing up and I want to involve them. I grew up lower middle class and didn’t have anywhere near the access to technology that my kids will have. I’m super jealous of them sometimes because little me would have been blown away by the tablets with near limitless information online that they can access.
Anyway, I’ll still definitely wait to grab them on sale. The touch panel triangles also interest me, so hopefully they don’t cost too much. Do you have the multi sided remote controller thing?
The tiles with the so very obvious cross in the middle is tantamount to some cheap LED holidays decorations; absolutely nothing comparable to the gorgeous Aurora triangles with no obvious artifacts; and yeh THAT PRICE GEEEESS!
I bought the Aurora rhythm kit from Best Buy here in Canada when they did the holidays discount. Likely they will do this again around December (keep an eye out)
I love the Aurora but NOT if I had paid full price...would have been around $350CAD!
Again, they're really great but let's not kid ourselves , they're not groundbreaking tech AND to justify these prices? Even the softwares meh.
Pop over to your nearest hacker space and borrow they're 3d printer.
Bang yourself a couple triangles out, some nice 3d files here ('https://www.thingiverse.com/search?q=nanoleaf&dwh=655b8c62fc8242c'): -
Adafruit have some awesome reasonably priced Neopixel led's for the job, power supplies cost peanuts. Wire all this up to an ESP8266 microcontroller, maybe add in a Circuit Playground Express for the extra bundled sensors, and python abilities and DONE!
Bit of care and love and you've not only saved yourself a fortune but learned some stuff on the way.
The prices Nanoleaf ask for are just insane. It's not as if any serious R&D goes into any of this.
They're multicolor LED's in a plastic frame!