mui Lab

The problem

Smart home control screens are bright, chatty and attention-hungry, and each one is tied to Amazon's, Google's or Apple's ecosystem. Japanese utilities, meanwhile, need a presence inside the home to manage heating and demand response programs without forcing yet another screen on residents.

The solution

The mui Board Gen 2 is a 58.6 cm, 850 g natural wood wall panel with no visible screen: dot-matrix icons glow through the wood when touched, then fade away. It acts as a Matter controller for lights, plugs, thermostats, curtains and locks, and lets family members swap handwritten notes. mui Lab also licenses its software platform (mui Kurashi OS) to energy and real estate companies.

How it works

1. A touch layer under the wood veneer (M-UX Material Touch Panel) senses the finger.
2. A dot-matrix display (M-UI White Gen3, 302 x 58 mm visible area) shines through the wood and switches off after use.
3. A Raspberry Pi board runs the device, with 2.4 and 5 GHz Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, two speakers and a microphone.
4. The panel works as a local Matter controller, without routing through Amazon, Google or Apple clouds; Thread support is planned via an external border router.
5. For the sleep service shown at CES 2026, millimeter-wave sensing detects sleep state with no wearable, then adjusts lighting and wake-up.

Value proposition

For residents, a smart home controlled without a lit screen or voice assistant. For utilities, an in-home touchpoint to reward energy savings: mui's demand response system offers more than 1,000 digital gift cards through giftee.

Technology edge

mui Lab competes on interface rather than horsepower: a natural material made interactive, certified by the Calm Tech Institute. Unlike big-platform hubs, the mui Board controls Matter devices locally, independent of any ecosystem. In 2026 it earned Japan's JC-STAR IoT security label as a HEMS controller.

Business model

B2B2C: platform and service licensing to utilities and developers, plus direct sales of the mui Board. Pre-orders at USD 499 during the January 2024 Kickstarter launch; recommended price around AUD 1,500 in 2026.

Market

Global Market Insights (September 2026) sizes the global smart home market at USD 172 billion in 2025, rising to USD 413.7 billion by 2035 (9.3% annual growth). mui Lab targets Japanese households through energy providers and developers, then the international premium segment.

Competitors and alternatives

Amazon's Echo Hub, an 8-inch control panel sold at USD 179.99 since February 2024, is the mass-market alternative. Google's Nest Hub fills the same role in Google's ecosystem. In Japan, developers build their own services, such as Mitsubishi Estate's HOMETACT, which mui Lab chose to partner with rather than fight. mui Lab positions itself on a screenless wooden interface, independent of the big platforms, and at a much higher price.

Use cases

• A utility such as Shizuoka Gas offers the mui platform to customers to run appliances and reward energy savings.
• A developer such as Mitsubishi Estate pairs mui with its HOMETACT service in new homes.
• Hokkaido Gas and mui Lab were selected in June 2026 for government funding on low-carbon housing in cold climates.
• A family uses the panel to leave handwritten notes and dim the evening lights.

Traction and proof points

Capital alliances with Mitsubishi Estate (August 2023) and Shizuoka Gas (August 2025, about 450,000 customer households according to VOIX); partnerships with Odakyu Real Estate, Hokkaido Gas, DSR Corporation (March 2026) and Wacom. Announced compatibility with Sonos, Philips Hue, LIFX, SwitchBot and Ecobee. JC-STAR label (August 2026). CES Innovation Awards in 2019, 2022 and 2024; Best of Kickstarter 2018; winner of the IFA Next pitch contest 2019. CES exhibitor since 2019, including CES 2026 at the Venetian Expo, booth 52562, with the sleep service demo.

What remains to be proven

The mui Board Gen 2, pre-ordered in early 2024 with shipping promised for late 2024, only shipped in limited quantities in 2026 according to ChannelNews. The sleep service was a CES 2026 demo, with commercial launch planned around late 2026. The B2B utility model still has to deliver volumes beyond the pilots planned for 2025.