Welle is supposed to turn any surface into a interactive controller

Would you like to touch your table to turn off your lights, or maybe touch a wall to bring down the shades on your window? An upcoming device called Welle is supposed to do just that. The makers of the device, Maxus Tech, have recently started a Kickstarter campaign to help fund the development and release of Welle.

The makers claim that Welle is able to accomplish these feats with embedded Sonar hardware. Yes, that’s the same sort of technology used in the military on submarines and other vehicles to send sound waves to objects which then send those waves back to the source. Welle also uses what the company calls a “highly sensitive touchless gesture control algorithm”. It allows the ultrasonic pulses from the Welle to be translated to different instructions that can be recognized by smart devices like lights, thermostats, TVs and many more.

Welle uses BLUotooth wireless technology to connect to smart devices. When it is released, owners will download an Android or iOS app in order to set up their Welle unit to work on those devices, along with any specific gestures they want to use to access those products. The Kickstarter campaign has already almost doubled its $20,000 fund raising goal with over a month to go. You can pledge $69 to get one Welle unit for yourself, and the company claims it will begin shipping the devices to Kickstarter backers in October. Of course, as with any crowd funded project, there is always the risk that shipments could be delayed, or even canceled.