Making Smart Windows Easy: iGlass’ New Wisp Technology

In an era of increasingly smart technology in buildings and homes, one vital asset has been left largely untouched: windows. While windows in a building offer superb opportunities to harness ‘smart’ tech,’ solutions to do so are often expensive and require replacing entire windows. California-based iGlass Technologies, however, has found an elegant solution to this long-standing issue in the form of their Wisp product.

Smart windows can be easily tinted, providing both increased energy savings and comfort for building owners and occupants. Furthermore, smart windows often connect with the most popular management operating systems and hubs: iOS, Android, Google Home, Amazon Alexa, and so on. iGlass’ Wisp-enabled windows do all of that, all while allowing existing windows to be retrofitted with their technology rather than replaced entirely.

One solution already available to consumers uses PDLC film. This type of smart film, however, completely blocks the view to the outside world, making it ideal for medical and highly private situations, but inadequate for everyday use. iGlass’ smart window technology provides various degrees of tinting, making it simple to enjoy the benefits of tinted windows without losing the view.

“It acts like blinds,” explains iGlass CEO Boris Maslov. “It can be glued to the window without stopping office work and the cost of installation is several times cheaper than alternative technologies.” After windows are measured, Maslov details, they can be fitted with the Wisp Power Bar, a device that sits discreetly at the bottom of the window allowing the flexible, digital layer of film on the window to communicate with other smart devices and hubs.

The flexibility and ease-of-use that iGlass champions in the installation process of a Wisp product are carried over into the everyday usage of it, too. Users can tint different parts of the window and change that tint by degrees. Wisp isn’t a static solution, but rather, a seamless integration that plays beautifully with existing smart (and non-smart) tech in a building.

Uncomfortable afternoons in the office and unreasonably high electrical costs can both be remedied by iGlass’ Wisp technology. Their groundbreaking work is a reminder that the technologization of everyday assets, like windows, can still be simple and non-invasive. Wisp doesn’t require a major building renovation to get implemented, but rather, two visits: one to measure and one to install. With that, iGlass isn’t giving building owners any excuses for not adopting the latest and greatest tech.

BuiltWorlds partnered with iGlass Technologies to bring you this article.