Bearbot presentation

Meet Bearbot, the adorable device that will make life easier. The species was first discovered in Luxembourg, right inside our offices!

Studies show that households suffer from germ invasion, and that remote controls appear among the most contaminated objects.

By allowing you not to touch your traditional remotes, Bearbot keeps germ at a distance!

Bearbot is a universal remote using these protocols: Infrared, Bluetooth, Zigbee and Radio.

His chubby figure livens up through a 1.44 inch TFT screen.

Thanks to a 3D gesture controller, Bearbot is able to recognize your gestures and convert them into commands for your home appliances.

Bearbot completely recharges his batteries via induction (Qi system) in approximately 4 hours.

Bearbot replaces as many remotes as you wish.

The screen always displays the logo of the appliance you are about to control.

You can intuitively rank and modify your devices list at any time on the app, according to your very own uses.

Switching between devices is made easy:

• A gesture from up to down allows you to switch to the next device

• A gesture from bottom to top allows you to switch to the previous device

Mini Bearbot is a relay for Bearbot’s signal. If there’s an obstacle on the way or if Bearbot is too far from the device (>5 meters), mini Bearbot comes to the rescue!

It’s also possible to accumulate several functions for one gesture only:

Find out more about the bear and its cub, here.

Our use of the IoT

The Internet of Things is happening and that’s a fact that can’t be denied. IoT will make many devices become obsolete, but most importantly, it paves the way for the design of new connected devices.

Think about any object, make it able to transmit information/data to the web, and Voila! That was your contribution to the IoT.

What is it? According to Wikipedia, “the Internet of things (IoT) is the extension of Internet connectivity into physical devices and everyday objects. Embedded with electronics, Internet connectivity, and other forms of hardware (such as sensors), these devices can communicate and interact with others over the Internet, and they can be remotely monitored and controlled”.

What are its uses? Some may not have heard about IoT but smart homes, smart cities, and self-driven cars. All these “smart” uses are derived from the direct application of IoT.

Ulo and its cousin Bearbot are the perfect examples of the wide possibilities of application in IoT, as well as our contribution to it.

The ‘Cloud access’ function on Ulo is a result of the IoT, as well as the App that serves in controlling the device from a distance.

Ulo is a perky looking surveillance camera that needs no human interaction to do its job: it seizes a moment and sends it over to an online server = no data transits through us.

According to Vivien Muller, “IoT is the first step in transforming common home appliances into robots”.

Basic daily devices are becoming more and more ‘smart’ and we aim to create a richer interaction using empathy and emotion.

Mu Design creates the missing link between common smart devices and robotics.

Join us & help our team add more cheerful companions to the family: https://www.seedrs.com/mu-design

The brains behind the owl

Vivien and Maki.

Vivien Muller is the founder of Mu Design and Ulo’s creator. He has a master degree in Art Design and is obsessed with design and building new things.

He comes from a long line of architects and there’s a big chance that’s in his DNA, obviously. Electree (the photovoltaic bonsaï) has been the main trigger to start the Ulo venture. The solar panel charger brought Vivien great online exposure preceding the owl camera.

‘Mangrover’ concept

Taking a deeper look at Vivien’s concepts and products, it appears that nature is his muse. Inspiration from nature has a name: biomimicry.

‘Octocube’ concept

Vivien wanted to ignite a spark of life in his designs. Fractals are also at the heart of Vivien’s inspiration for his past concepts.

Freshly settled in his new apartment with his shiba-inu puppy, Vivien -like many others-, wanted to keep an eye on his newly adopted companion.

‘Plume’ concept

Looking for a home camera to buy, Vivien couldn’t find a single model that would not only do the job, but that would also look good. And cute. And shaped like an owl.

With this in mind, Ulo was born! This is how Vivien started rethinking and designing new consumer electronics, making them  more capable of a ‘human-like’ interaction.

Join us & help our team create cute connected devices: https://www.seedrs.com/mu-design

Ulo, the owltimate cuteness..

Ulo is a connected camera. “Nothing special”, you’d say, huh?

Ulo is a connected camera that looks like an irresistibly perky little bird that will give you loving/mean/angry/happy/sad/thirsty (and more) looks to communicate.

Other than being highly compelling, Ulo detects movement, starts recording and pushes notifications according to two different modes:

            - Default mode: eye animations are displayed but recording is optional, depending on the option selected (“standard” mode vs. “spy” mode)

            - Alert mode: eye animations are not displayed and recording is on.

To interact with Ulo, it’s necessary to gently tap its forehead (right above its shiny silver beak).

These are the 3 different taps to give it commands:

            - Slides: Ulo’s favorite touch! Interpreted as a caress, this slide will always make your Ulo happy.   

           - Short taps: (≤ 1 sec) a single short tap wakes the Ulo up or restores the sleeping mode. A double tap activates or deactivates the alert mode.      

            - Long taps: (≥ 2 sec) a single long tap switches the Ulo on/off. (≥ 15 sec). A 15 sec long tap allows you to restore factory settings.   

“Eyes are the windows to the soul” is not just a cheesy catchy saying… It is the reality of what eyes say about the soul. Our eyes convey expressions, expressions of our emotions.

The little connected bird relies on 42 animations of eye expressions, all of which enhance its liveliness. The extremely expressive eyes are very important features since they display the device’s status (charging, recording, updating, …).

Here’s what the animations tell you:

• Happy = Ulo is up and running

• Tired = Battery is low

• Asleep = You put in "Sleep" mode

• Dizzy = You are moving Ulo, resetting detection exclusion zone / You turned Ulo upside down to access settings or to restore it

• Crying = Ulo crashed and will reboot

• Updating = (circular arrows) Ulo is updating or Ulo is resetting

• Lightning symbol = USB is plugged

• Battery level = Ulo is charging

• Green Battery = Ulo is charged

• Squinting = Ulo is watching you (live stream)

• Blinking = Ulo is taking a snapshot

• Thrilled = You performed a swipe on its forehead (caress)

• Standing on guard = Ulo is entering Alert Mode

• Grumpy = Will be used in behaviors (future update)

• Amazed = Will be used in behaviors (future update)

• Puzzled = Will be used in behaviors (future update)

• Attentive = Will be used in behaviors (future update)

• Bored  = Will be used in behaviors (future update)

• Crazy = Will be used in behaviors (future update)

• In love = Will be used in behaviors (future update)

• Laughing = Will be used in behaviors (future update)

• Nervous= Will be used in behaviors (future update)

• Proud = Will be used in behaviors (future update)

• Sad = Will be used in behaviors (future update)

• Scared = Will be used in behaviors (future update)

• Upset= Will be used in behaviors (future update)

Some animations are randomly displayed to always keep you on your toes! Many more animations will be released in upcoming updates.

These eye animations are at the core of what makes ‘Ulo the owl’ a sociable wild animal, made to perfectly fit in your house, be useful to you and bond with you on an everyday basis.

Support us & help our team add more cheerful companions to the family: https://www.seedrs.com/mu-design