Hayo’s motion-controlled smart home hub hits Indiegogo

Hayo’s pitch video is much better this time out. The New York-based startup had a bit of a misfire last time with a goofy and confusing promo tied to the announcement of an otherwise fairly compelling connected home product.

As it readies it Indiegogo campaign, the company is doing so in much more straightforward fashion with a quick promo clip that involves bringing outsiders into its office to show the product that we initially referred to a “cross between an Amazon Echo [and] a Kinect.”

The device works by creating a 3D scan of a room, allowing users to associate “buttons” and motions with various connected home functionality like controlling lights and thermostats and playing music. The company’s already announced a number of connected device partners/platforms, including Nest, Logitech, Sonos and Roku.

It’s an interest take on the burgeoning space, one that does away with the need to pull out a phone or talk to a speaker. I played around with it a bit in a controlled demo, and it seemed to work as advertised – it’ll be interesting to see how it works in a more chaotic real life connected home setting.

The company also notably responded to early concerns over the device’s price, which it’s opted to drop by $100, down to $199, which is still more than the Amazon Echo or Google Home, but should be a lot easier for interested parties to swallow.