Vitrea Video Q&A: Technology Meets High-End Glass Keypads, Switches
Jason Knott, CE ProCapacitive glass touchpads from Vitrea can be customized with any background, control any high- and low-voltage devices; Crestron, Vantage, RTI, Lutron, KNX supported.
Jason Knott, CE Pro · December 15, 2017
Israel-based Vitrea was started seven years ago born out of the team’s expertise in the telecom world.
“We saw that residential projects did not quite have the right products to fit the projects. Architects and interior designers could not choose the design of the switch on the wall,” recalls Amir Seluk, vice president of sales and marketing at Vitrea.
Seluk says retrofit projects that did not require tearing into the walls to run cables were very difficult to do at that time.
“So we decided to create a wireless home automation system that is based on digital switches that will allow a homeowner to control his system from anywhere in the world,” he says.
That wireless system is called the VTouch Pro, which can be retrofit into a home or office seamlessly with no special infrastructure needed. The digital switches control HVAC and shades, and offer forward/reverse 0-10/1-10 light control dimming.
Seluk says the VTouch is finding a niche in the multi-dwelling unit (MDU) space. “We can place four or five switches in the common living areas of the condo, and tie it in with a VBox controller with a few built-in scenes, and from there the contractor or the homeowner can continue to upgrade the unit with no need to run wires or cables,” says Seluk.
Besides the technology, Vitrea is earning a reputation for its design. “We wanted to put a special emphasis on design, which is why we created those glass touchpanels that we are known for today,” he says.
Vitrea has five standard glass touchpanels: gray, black, white, red, cream. The panels can be is glossy or matte finish, and the company offers socket frames so the panel and the outlet looks the same. Vitrea also has an HVAC control frame that also mimics the touchpanel and wall outlet designs. All of the interfaces can be flush-mounted and even custom engraved.
Meanwhile, the company offer the VMax hardwired DIN rail-based smart home system is being deployed in residential environments, but it is targeted at the hospitality industry. It controls lights and shades via 16A with no relays, high-voltage forward/reverse phase dimming, 0-10/1-10 dimmer control, an astronomical clock scheduler, customized glass touch-keypads and thermostats, and third-party integration with RTI, Crestron, Control4, Cool Automation, Somfy and others.