GLAS tracks indoor and outdoor air quality while Microsoft’s Cortana provides voice control with visual feedback
Johnson Controls revealed GLAS—a simple-to-use, yet powerful smart thermostat. Designed by the same company that invented the room thermostat, GLAS leverages more than 135 years of insights in building control systems to create a thermostat with an efficient and modern perspective.
GLAS is the first smart thermostat of its kind to utilise a translucent OLED touchscreen display to control its functions. Users simply touch the screen to change the temperature, monitor indoor and outdoor air quality, track energy savings or perform other functions. Alternately, the thermostat can be controlled by mobile app or by voice, thanks to Microsoft’s voice-enabled digital assistant, Cortana. When it’s not in use, the screen seamlessly blends in with a home or building’s environment.
“Developing GLAS really allowed our team to think outside of the box, understand consumers and create a customer-backed design that is both beautiful in form and also very functional,” said Don Albinger, vice president & general manager, building automation systems, Johnson Controls. “We wanted to take our experience of designing thermostats for industrial applications and enhance the features, function and user interface of the thermostat to create a more efficient and innovative way to control a space. Given that we invented the room thermostat back in the late 1800s, it’s something that Johnson Controls is naturally oriented to do.”
Microsoft’s Cortana and GLAS’ mobile apps allow easy control of thermostat features
With Cortana, Microsoft‘s personal digital assistant, the thermostat makes communicating with a user’s home simple and interactive. Users can easily adjust, refine and redefine their space with simple voice control. Cortana allows users to check and audibly receive indoor and outdoor temperatures, set increases or decreases in thermostat temperature and obtain the current weather forecast by using their voice, among other skills.
Additionally, it provides an intuitive, engaging experience whether interacting with the device itself or the thermostat app on mobile, tablet or web browser. Using mobile apps for iOS and Android operating systems, users can seamlessly access GLAS controls and statistics with the same interface from the device, eliminating any learning curve.
