Image Courtesy: Economic Times
Panasonic has been in India for over 50 years, and you may recognise it as a consumer electronics firm that makes TVs, washing machines, and rice cookers. But it also offers smart factory, industrial IoT, and battery solutions, as well as display, security, and advertising solutions. “If you go to any PVR theatre in India, the movie is almost certainly being shown on a Panasonic projector,” says Manish Sharma, CEO of Panasonic India and South Asia.
With all of this information and expertise, the business established an innovation centre in Bengaluru in 2017 with the goal of creating smart houses. MirAle was the name that came up. MirAle is a home automation platform that can link air conditioners, doorbells, refrigerators, washing machines, fans, plugs, and switches.
“The innovation centre has produced a variety of items, but MirAle is the most well-known. Some of the technology developed around MirAle has been a worldwide success for the firm “Sharma explains.
Moreover, MirAle was designed in such a manner that other hardware makers may use it to link their devices. “We intended MirAle to be a one-stop shop for all of your smart home appliances, so you wouldn’t have to download a separate app for each one. We’ve already partnered with two major Indian corporations and are seeking to bring on others.” Sharma says.
One of the biggest difficulties for the R&D team was to create a single open interface that could connect to a variety of devices. “It had to be protocol and platform neutral, whether it was an Amazon or Google platform. The goal was to keep the purchase price as low as feasible. We had to conduct a lot of value engineering and create scalable models. To make this possible, we worked with a number of companies “Sharma explains.
Air conditioners with MirAle technology are now being sold from Haryana to South Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. “The data acquired from consumers today and in the future will show to be industry game changers,” Sharma predicts.
