Presenter:
Pete Beckett, Founder of Indii.
Startup:
Indii is enabling independence for disabled and older people by unlocking the potential of the smart home.
Transcript
[00:00 – 01:28] Pete
This is Sofii, the adaptable switch for your home.
And this is Sophie, my youngest sister. Sophie is a genuine ray of sunshine who finds her joy in good food and singing Christmas songs all year round. In 2001, Sophie experienced a severe brain trauma, and as a result, now requires one-to-one care on a daily basis. Sophie’s experience is what inspires our vision.
Hi, I’m Pete Beckett the founder of Indii and we’re developing technology to enable the tens of millions of people with motor disabilities who stand to benefit from integrating smart-home technology into their homes.
Currently, home tech is limited by its input devices. In a world ruled by phone apps, quick and universal control is not a given. Voice assistants have been a great step in the right direction, but there are many scenarios where users cannot or do not want to use their voice as a primary input method.
Meanwhile, companies operating in the assistive tech space excel in designing solutions with specific user requirements. Unfortunately, to date, most implementations of environmental control have been prohibitively expensive and limited in both scope and capability.
That’s what led us to develop Sofii, the switch, not the sister. Sofii supports adaptive switches and offers audio-visual feedback and connects directly to the smart home without the need for a mobile device.
[01:28 – 01:34] Sofii
This button controls your bedroom lights. Press the button again to toggle on and off.
[01:35 – 02:33] Pete
Sofii can act as a Bluetooth switch for iPads, phones and computers and at just $350, is more capable than its nearest Bluetooth-only rivals and for a lower price.
Over the past 18 months we’ve developed the hardware and software and tested with new potential users.
We’re now really close to delivering on our mission of providing new and improved ways to enable independence at home. But the next 18 months is set to be even more exciting. This spring we’re welcoming interested parties to evaluate our hardware and explore commercial partnerships as we move towards a launch, selling into the NDIS early next year. And this is just the beginning.
In the future, we want to take our tech out of the home and into public spaces, providing more convenient ways for our customers to interact with the world around them.
And all this thanks to Sofii, the switch and the sister.
