Goldee is a crowdfunding project trying to launch a wall-mounted light controller that uses Zigbee communications to control “smart” lights like the Philips Hue.  The references to Nest seem appropo, as Goldee includes proximity sensors, light sensors, gesture control, and an AMOLED display — which is an important detail, as hopefully it will go to “true black” as promised, as opposed to tradition LCD screens which would be far too bright at night, even on “black”.

Innovations such as the Goldee controller show the way to a very different future for lighting controls, one where a series of smart devices from various manufacturers use open standards like the Connected Lighting Alliance to form systems with amazing new control paradigms (I’m not sure if Goldee is officially part of Connected Lighting Alliance…but it sure makes sense).  Talk about classic disruptive innovation:  The old proprietary systems such as Lutron, Crestron, etc. just won’t be able to compete on either price or capability.  Think about it:  How could you possibly achieve the amazing functionality of combining something like a Goldee with a Hue using any of the “old school” systems?