Way back in the good old days, if you wanted something on, you just flipped a switch. Now you have to find your phone, open the correct app, and adjust things as needed. What happened to sci-fi display panels where you just touch a screen display to have it work?
Of course such devices are available, most obviously in the form of touch screen displays. However, permanently mounting a full touch screen and Raspberry Pi or similar SBC everywhere you simply need to turn something on or off is normally overkill.
For an upgrade that isn’t too over-the-top, then these illuminated capacitive touch panel switches are a nice solution. They feature blue and orange or RGB lighting for each of four static appliance icons, which allow it to display its state visibly, even at night.
Inside is these devices is your choice of a relay board that allows it to handle 8 amps at 240 volts on each of the 4 switching channels, or triacs which handle 1.5 amps each. You can also select from a range of wireless interface options, including Zigbee, WiFi, or Bluetooth, allowing it to interface with your smart device, or even integrate with an existing home automation system.
Finally, and most importantly for many Tindarians, this device is reprogrammable! It interfaces with the Arduino IDE via an FTDI module. So if the on/off colors don’t suit you, or if you would like it to exhibit some novel functionality, there’s no reason you can’t make that happen!
