Any interest in a touchscreen coffee table? I’m talking to a manufacturer

Hi, I work at a hospital and get the chance to see really cool tech devices all the time. I get to meet cool vendors. Well what this leads me to is a good connection with a great company called TechGlobal. The deal with high end medical/military grade touchscreens. You might see where this is going. I love my smart home and love the idea of the tablet wall-mounted control center. But then thought, hey why not a coffee table. Looked it up and wow crazy expensive to get one. Talked with a guy at tech global and they said like 4 years back they had done one but just a table and their was no demand. So i am trying to convince him that their is now a need for something like this in a smart home. Well i know i would love to sit on my couch with my big screen then a touchscreen coffee table controlling it all. My idea was to have him work with 2-3 local furniture makers who work in wood or metal and get them to come up with some ideas that would house the touchscreens. Yes they have a water proof screen. On the multi-touch screens they are 10-point touch, yes you can use all your fingers at once lol. So help me out. You think their is a calling for something like this or not? I was hoping someone might have a little free time to do a concept drawing that i can offer up (i can’t draw very well). Was thinking of posting this up on reddit too. See if people will like the idea or not. Thoughts?

These exist, it’s just that the prices and features vary.

You can use the Fibaro swipe, for example, in this way, although it will only capture gestures, not display results. But but it’s fun, easy, under $200, and already works with SmartThings. :sunglasses:

https://www.thesmartesthouse.com/products/fibaro-swipe-z-wave-plus-gesture-controller-fggc-001

And Vesternet has a good in-depth review, including discussing putting it under a counter or coffee table:

It can also be wall-mounted or mounted under a table, desk or counter top. We were sceptical at first whether the gesture detection would actually work when the Fibaro Swipe was installed this way, but we’re pleased to say that it most definitely does. We tried it through a number of different surfaces and it worked perfectly.

This device also has my favorite home automation commercial ever. A novice priest comes into an empty church and imagines himself something… More. :wink:

For something that will display as well, there are a number of commercial options available for bars and conference centers. They typically run around $8,000. All you need is a web browser and you could run ActionTiles on it.

But personally I prefer the Fibaro Swipe approach because then the coffeetable still functions as a coffeetable. If you go to the full touchscreen, then either you can only use it as a touchscreen or you have to have a cover or mode button, which to me sort of defeats the whole purpose. I’d rather have a giant wall screen.

“Honey can you reboot the coffee table? The garage door is going crazy since you put that cup of coffee down!”

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This one is for @ogiewon , to make up for mistaking him with obycode earlier today. :sunglasses:

It’s an instructable on how to make your own touchscreen coffee table, using a tv, a scanner, and a raspberry pi.

Add a web browser, and you could run actiontiles on it.

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You can also grab an 18" Samsung Galaxy View for $300 - $500 install Fully browser and actiontiles or sharptools and mount it into a table. You def have options :slight_smile:

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