Eric Bauer of Colorado-based integrator ESI can be pretty picky when it comes to adding new product lines to his company’s solutions portfolio, but he says his decision to bring on control provider AVA for its Cinema Remote was an easy one.
“Oddly enough, when I connected with them, part of it was as a result of being a Josh.ai dealer. I sell Josh as well, and of course, Josh utilizes the Cinema Remote. I wanted to kind of get in there and see what that relationship looked like. AVA OS and Cinema Remote open up opportunities in lighter-weight projects where Josh isn’t quite the right fit,” Bauer explains.
He adds that one of his key tenets about integration is the old theory of “keep it simple” and he was trying to provide a way for clientele to have the easiest, most concise user interface (UI) possible. From there the integrator was all-in on AVA.
“I guess a good word would be ‘enamored’ with the fact that they really redesigned the remote somewhat in this capacity,” he remarks. “I’ve read articles where they say that this is, you know, an Android [OS] stuffed into a remote and it’s really way more than that.”
That’s what the AVA folks think as well, and they hope more dealers such as ESI will experience that too as they build up their network.
Lightapalooza took place in late February, and the growth of the event has mirrored the rapid ascension lighting fixtures and controls.
The Cinema Remote is a very elegant, graphically dynamic remote control that combines an edge-to-edge touchscreen and tactile buttons, and it resulted from the company’s vision for delivering a channel-exclusive device that’s designed for TV control and has a baked-in operating system (OS).
The button interface features what AVA refers to as the “Dynamic Keypad.” What makes the Dynamic Keypad unique is that it uses a three-dimensional glass ring that guides the user’s thumb to better sense where it is located on the keypad.
“Most remotes feel cluttered with buttons. It’s overwhelming. And, while touchscreens are sleek, watching TV demands physical buttons. AVA Cinema Remote’s Dynamic Keypad gives you adaptive, real buttons, keeping the device simple, elegant, and beautiful,” says Ted Haeger, AVA’s Chief Customer Officer.
The keypad’s 3D glass has a raised ring so your thumb knows where it is for each click. (Courtesy of AVA)
Users can click the circle and buttons on the bottom area of the remote – the Dynamic Keypad – to switch sources and simultaneously switch how the navigation appears.
“They adjust to whatever the current source is, so if you’re watching, say, Xfinity you get a different set of buttons than what you get watching Apple TV. Switch to DirecTV and it lights up with all the buttons needed to be watching DirecTV,” Haeger continues.
“Up at the top is a set of custom channels that we have as well. It becomes this experience where now there’s a tactile set of buttons right there, three-dimensional glass guiding you to the buttons for the controls, so you don’t have to look down at it. Your thumb just knows exactly where to be and we keep the volume and channels [buttons] always in the same spot, so muscle memory can take over with this remote.”
Android certification inherently supports Google Play Store apps, and the OS enables installers to program control integrations that trigger macro commands when certain buttons are pressed.
The simplicity of the hardware design and its user functionalities made Bauer a big fan of how AVA is responding to consumers’ latest listening and viewing habits.
“I find it to be a very comfortable user interface, and particularly for a younger generation of users in the sense that a lot of people are streaming these days. We’re moving away from the cable boxes of the past, and Dish and things like that and going to more of a streaming environment,” he states.
“And so it inherently, it puts people in their comfort zone with regard to that user interface, which I find really compelling. Remotes don’t have to have 100 buttons on them to be a great remote, right? In fact, I think it’s just the opposite.”
Bauer finds the UI “very compelling” on the AVA Remote and points to it as the biggest driver that appealed to him. It’s one that is beneficial to both integrators and their customers.
“It’s got great graphics, very nice, concise setup that’s easy to use, and I find that most people just grabbing the remote kind of have a baseline understanding of how to use it already, which is really, really nice,” he says.
As Bauer points out, however, most clients don’t care so much about how they get to a final outcome of control, they just want to get there. He tells them that the “black boxes” are in the back of the house, but it doesn’t matter if you can’t use them, right?
“I just want to give them a simple, clean user interface that’s tactile, that has the ability to handle what users need done, but also still gives me the ability to build in functionality that I need as an integrator to give them that solution,” Bauer points out.
ESI was already a Josh.ai dealer, which led to a closer look at the compatible AVA Cinema Remote. (Courtesy of Josh.ai)
“I think this is probably the most important part about the AVA solution, is that for a remote at that level not only does it do a good job of promoting a nice, concise user interface, it gives me the ability to write those back-end macros and put utilities on the remote that I need to facilitate an outcome for them, so I really like that.”
The ability to program and control a single room – such as a home theater – is a common scenario Bauer cites as ideal for having the AVA Remote in ESI’s solutions portfolio.
“To go in, implement that solution, have the necessary tools available to facilitate an outcome is phenomenal. By that I mean you’ve got a vast selection of IP drivers already in place, and I really like the fact that they’re leaning in heavy on that,” he comments.
“I think that’s the way that control system should be. They should rely on the latest, greatest tech if possible, but still have the ability to overcome those obstacle pieces – those one-offs where you need [something robust enough] to, again, create an outcome.”
He notes that a situation may be if a customer really wants to hold onto and integrate a source component that’s near and dear to their heart, and AVA can help ESI accommodate those kinds of requests.
Of course, just as a technology system might work only as well as its remote control operation, an integrator can only do so much without the proper supplier support. It’s another area where Bauer says AVA differentiates itself and can be an integrator’s lifeline on a project.
“I was absolutely blown away by their support,” he recounts. “I had one encounter where I had to get some information quickly – I needed an actual database enhancement, if you will, and they jumped into action. It honestly astonished me how quickly they got it turned around for me, literally rewriting code, updating it in the database, and providing it back to me so that it was ready to go.”
One reason AVA has the capability to do so, Bauer adds, is that it is still a small company, which enables them to be more fleet-footed than others. The remote provider has been able to “fill a niche” in ESI’s product line.
When he considers adding a new line, Bauer weighs whether the solution will elevate ESI’s entire portfolio of technologies and services. In this case, AVA fit the bill as a very complementary piece, he states.
Ultimately Bauer sees the AVA Remote as a mutually beneficial compromise between using an app-based mobile DIY solution and a traditionally slick universal remote or touchpanel. It’s something he was enamored with from the introduction, and Bauer admittedly has a highly discerning selection process when it comes to vetting new product lines.
“The fact that I took them on as quickly as I did was kind of surprising to myself,” he says. “But I do feel like it really fits that void, and I don’t think there’s another product out there that is exactly in this space. Using a phone app or remote – this kind of blends the two of them very well. It gives you that application interface and yet still gives you the ability to really generate the kind of command sets that you might need, which I really like and particularly in a standalone device.”
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