Residential

Rayva, the purveyor of turnkey home theaters that can be installed by integration pros in just a couple of days, is taking the same concept to the wellness realm. Instead of escaping reality through cinema-quality video and surround sound, users will be able to escape the stifling indoors with an immersion in nature … a simulated version of nature, to be sure, but a hyper-realistic version that mimics the sounds, sights, and other stimuli found in the great outdoors.

Rayva knows a thing or two about realism. The company principals are famous for engineering spaces and systems that put the audience smack in the middle of intergalactic wars, underwater fairy tails, and live concerts.

Now they turn their attention to forests and streams and sunsets — natural elements that human beings so desperately crave. We are biophilic creatures (biophilia primer below); our DNA is hard-coded for outdoor living after millions of years of evolution, even though we spend 90% of our time indoors. Biologically, we miss the sounds, smells, visuals, air conditions, motion, lighting transitions and other stimuli from nature.

Several months ago, Rayva latched onto biophilia and wellness, and set about designing Rayva Wellness Rooms that would be as turnkey as the theaters it’s famous for. They called these spaces “Outdoor Simulators” when they introduced the concept at CEDIA Expo.

The sheer amount of smart home technology available to homeowners today is stunning. Everything from refrigerators and dishwashers to fans, lights, and televisions are now equipped with tech that connects them to mobile apps, smart speakers, and other devices in your home.

It’s easy to see the value of smart home technology. It makes your home far more convenient and adds automation to your day-to-day routine. The prospective home-buyers of the future are young people who have grown up in a world surrounded by such tech. They appreciate homes that already have smart integration thought through and set up.

EMBRACE THE ORGANIZATION MOVEMENT

Today’s homeowners are looking for more ways to clear clutter and keep their homes better organized. There are now several popular TV and YouTube shows geared towards homeowners looking to store household goods, clothes, and children’s toys more effectively. Household storage is nothing new, but—as this recent trend shows—there’s real value to adding more built-in storage and organization to your home. A few ideas include:

• Installing in-cabinet storage racks to hold pots and pans.
• Adding ceiling pulley systems to your garage to store infrequently-used decor and collectibles.
• Building shelves and pull-outs in the master bedroom closet to store clothing.

Bridge House is a modern 4500-square foot home that lives up to its name, straddling the brook. “I started with a motor court, and the bridge evolved because of the structure,” said Brunn. “I could go right over the river instead of biasing the whole house on one side. Instead of a first floor and second floor, you think of it in terms of length.”

The architectural design exemplifies Brunn’s signature minimalist aesthetic, which he hoped to complement with an AV and control system that mirrored the philosophy. To realize his vision, Brunn brought in Michael Izatt of technology design firm OneButton, who already had a relationship with the architect, although it didn’t start off all that smoothly.

“It turned out to be a very balanced and discreet system,” says Izatt.

CES 2020 marked the launch of the first new TV models to feature ATSC 3.0 digital — otherwise known as Next Gen TV — tuners.

Stations in 60 U.S. markets have announced plans to start broadcasting the Next Gen TV format by the end of this year. What are the advantages over plain-vanilla ATSC 1.0 digital TV broadcasting? Up to 4K/10-bit video with wide color gamut and high dynamic range, up to a 120Hz frame rate, and immersive 7.2.4 sound.

Next Gen TV is also IP-based, so it can be easily streamed over a home network to multiple TVs and devices. For 2020, all of Samsung’s 8K models will feature Next Gen TV tuners, and so will LG’s high-end (GX series and above) OLED models, and Sony’s X900H 4K LCD series sets.

KB Home, one of the largest home-builders in the U.S., recently released data indicating a 44% increase in smart appliance selection by its clients.

The company also finds that more than 25% of all KB Home customers also chose smart security devices for their homes.

Gena Kirk, Vice President of design studio, KB Home, says the company expects to see consumers continuing to choose smart products for their homes over the long term.

“I believe we will continue to see an increase in consumers seeking the convenience of controlling their appliances right in the palm of their hands,” she states.

The large home-building company also points out that app-enabled appliances are popular products.

LG’s CineBeam HU85LA ultra-short-throw (UST) projector is an ingenious device that packs the projection system into a compact cabinet that sits on top of a shelf (or even on your floor!) and beams images at an upward angle. This design allows the projector to sit nearly right against the wall and deliver images that are much larger than what you can expect from a typical flat-panel TV. Combining a three-laser light engine with DLP 4K XPR projection technology, the HU85LA beams images that range in size from 90-120 inches with one of the shortest throw ratios on the market. And at $5,999 retail, the price is dramatically less than what you’ll pay for the largest high-end flat-panel LCD or OLED TVs.

The HU85LA is housed in an attractive white case complete with a fabric front that hides a built-in speaker system. A small glass opening for the image to project through is located on the cabinet’s top, along with a small door that conceals a focus adjustment. The back panel features two full-bandwidth HDMI 2.0b inputs, a digital TV antenna input, USB type-C and two USB type-B inputs, and an optical digital audio output. While I was surprised to see a TV tuner built into the projector, it certainly makes sense since the HU85LA can be used as a replacement for a flat-panel TV.

Builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes shed one point to 70 in November, according to the latest National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). The previous two months had the highest sentiment levels in 2019, according to an announcement on Monday.

“Single-family builders are currently reporting ongoing positive conditions, spurred in part by low mortgage rates and continued job growth,” states NAHB Chairman Greg Ugalde, a home builder and developer from Torrington, Conn. “In a further sign of solid demand, this is the fourth consecutive month where at least half of all builders surveyed have reported positive buyer traffic conditions.”