Lucis targets smart-home DIYers with its NuBryte lighting-control hub
Lucis describes its NuBryte product as a "smart-home lighting and safety console." Like the Umbrela, the NuBryte replaces an existing light switch, allowing you to control the "dumb" lights in the room in which it's installed. It's programmable, of course, so if you install one in your bedroom, you can set it up to automatically slowly dim the lights to help you fall asleep at night and gradually brighten them in the morning to help you wake up.
Like the Nest thermostat, the NuBryte learns the household's daily behavior patterns and will automatically begin turning lights on and off in accordance with those patterns. This feature is particularly useful when you turn on the console's "vacation" mode, because it will illuminate the home in the same way that it would if someone was there. Burglars are much less likely to break into a house when they think someone is home.
If an intruder does enter the home, the panel will send an alert to the homeowner as an internal motion-sensitive IP camera records what's happening. The video clips are stored in the cloud, so they can't be destroyed or otherwise tampered with.
The impact on you:Our impressions of the NuBryte are based on a quick demo on a noisy showroom floor, and we won't make a final judgment of this product until we've had time to fully evaluate its performance and capabilities. Having said that, The NuBryte suffers from the same shortcoming as the Umbrela. It's easy to install because it replaces an existing light switch. That means you'll need one for each room you want to control. Even at $150 per room, that could get very expensive very quickly.