HELUX LABS | Inua, the gesture cube for Home Assistant

Prototype · on the bench November 2026

Meet Inua

No screen, no buttons, no app. The face on top chooses what you control; your hand does the rest.

Face up picks the function

Five jobs: music, lights, blinds, climate, assistant. You name them. The sixth face is a lock: flip the cube over and it ignores gestures.

Turn it like a knob

Every 15° sends one step, with a haptic click. Volume, brightness, temperature.

Slide it

A short push along the table opens or closes, skips or goes back.

Tap it

A light tap on the face that is up plays or pauses, switches on or off.

Shake it

One more event to bind: a scene, all off, whatever you choose.

Talk to it

Assistant face up, then ask. Microphone and speaker are built in; the dock adds wake-word listening.

Leave it on the dock

On the dock it charges and stays awake. Off the dock it sleeps and wakes at a touch.

It knows the room

It listens for one Bluetooth beacon per room: a HELUX smart switch or any beacon already in the house. In the kitchen, the same turn dims the kitchen.

Interactive demo

Try it right here.

Drag the cube to turn it, flip it to change what it controls, and watch the room answer. This is a simulation of what a real Inua sends to Home Assistant.

Drag to turn · buttons for the other gestures

Slide

Living roomFace up: Music

Music

40%

Playing · track 3

Lights

60%

Scene: Warm

Blinds

50%

50% open

Climate

22.0 °C

Target temperature

face_changedMusic

5functions you name, plus a lock face

15°per step, each with a haptic click

80 µAasleep, by design estimate

0cloud accounts or subscriptions

Engineering

Inside Inua

A machined aluminium shell around a printed frame, one board and a cell. Every part is there to make a gesture feel instant and the battery last.

ESP32-S3Wi-Fi and Bluetooth processor
6-axis motionLSM6DSV16X
Haptic actuatorDRV2605L + Alps
MicrophonePDM
SpeakerI2S amplifier
Li-ion cellcharger + fuel gauge

Take it apart

Inua · design targets
Processor	ESP32-S3, Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz, Bluetooth LE
Motion	LSM6DSV16X, 6-axis with on-chip sensor fusion
Haptics	DRV2605L driver with an Alps linear actuator
Audio	I2S amplifier and speaker, PDM microphone
Power	Li-ion cell, charger and fuel gauge; about 80 µA asleep (estimate)
Firmware	ESPHome, native Home Assistant API, OTA updates
Licence	CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

These are design targets. Measured battery life and gesture figures follow once the two prototypes have been through daily use.

In Home Assistant

Every gesture is one event.

Inua shows up as an ESPHome device. Each gesture arrives as an event you can use in any automation, with the face on top as a condition and the room as the target.

Follow the build series

# The knob is the volume of the room Inua is in,
# while the "Música" face is up
- alias: Inua - music volume
  trigger:
    - platform: state
      entity_id: event.cubo_gesto
  condition:
    - condition: state
      entity_id: sensor.cubo_cara_arriba
      state: "Música"
    - condition: template
      value_template: >
        {{ trigger.to_state.attributes.event_type
           in ['rotate_cw', 'rotate_ccw'] }}
  action:
    - service: >
        {% set e = trigger.to_state.attributes.event_type %}
        {{ 'media_player.volume_up' if e == 'rotate_cw'
           else 'media_player.volume_down' }}
      target:
        area_id: >
          {{ area_id(states(
             'sensor.cubo_habitacion')) }}

# event.cubo_gesto · event_type
face_changed     # a different face is on top
rotate_cw        # one 15° step, clockwise
rotate_ccw       # one 15° step, counter-clockwise
slide_x_plus     # short push along +X
slide_x_minus    # and −X, +Y, −Y …
tap              # light tap on the top face
shake            # shaken

# sensor.cubo_cara_arriba · which face is up
# sensor.cubo_habitacion  · room it is in
# sensor.cubo_bateria     · battery, %

Use cases

One cube, every room.

Each function has its own face and its own gestures. With a Bluetooth beacon in each room, they act on the room you are in.

Room aware

The same gesture, in the room you are in

Put one Bluetooth beacon in each room: a HELUX smart switch, an iBeacon tag or any Bluetooth device that stays in place. Inua works out which room it is in, so a turn dims the lights of that room and a slide skips the song on its speaker. Carry it to the next room and it controls that one.

sensor.cubo_habitacion

Music

Volume under your palm

Turn for volume, slide to skip a track, and feel every step.

rotate_cw · slide_x_plus

Lighting

Dim without looking

Turn to dim, slide to move through scenes: bright, warm, night.

rotate_ccw · slide_y_plus

Blinds

Push to open

Slide one way to open and the other to close. Turn for an exact position.

slide_y_plus · slide_y_minus

Climate

Half a degree per click

Turn to set the temperature. The click tells you how far you went.

rotate_cw · rotate_ccw

Voice

Ask, then put it down

Assistant face up starts listening. The answer comes from Inua itself.

face_changed

Scenes

Shake for goodnight

One shake can turn everything off, or run any scene you bind to it.

shake

Hardware

HELUX products

Gesture controller · prototype

Charging dock

Included with InuaSee inside

Thread multisensor dimmer

Open design · V2 completeOpen on OSHWLab

Classroom swarm robots

Robotics kit · in developmentRead more

V2 complete · open design

Thread multisensor dimmer

A two-channel LED dimmer, a presence radar and a climate sensor that fit behind a standard blank wall plate. No changes to the wall box.

2:06 · Watch the tour

Open the design on OSHWLab

Thread · Matter-ready 24 GHz presence radar Fits a wall plate

Multisensor dimmer · V2
Processor	ESP32-C6 (RISC-V)
Network	Thread (802.15.4), Matter-ready, Wi-Fi 6
Size	40 × 20 × 38 mm
Mains input	100–240 V AC, 50/60 Hz
Dimming	Trailing-edge, MOSFETs in anti-series, 2 channels
Rated load	150–200 W per channel, dimmable LED loads
Presence	24 GHz mmWave radar, works through the plate
Environment	AHT20 temperature and humidity, VEML7700 light
Indicators	2 × WS2812B RGB
Standby	1.0–1.2 W (calculated)
Cost to reproduce	About US$30

This is a mains-voltage design. Build or install it only if you are qualified to work on AC wiring.

In development

Classroom swarm robots

A robotics kit for kindergarten and primary school: small robots, a beacon and a charging dock, with a printed activity book and an app. The boards are designed; enclosures and classroom trials come next.

Open hardware

What open means here

Published designs

Schematics, board layouts and bills of materials are on OSHWLab, ready to open in EasyEDA.

Firmware you can read

ESPHome YAML and C++ components. Change a threshold, rename a face, flash it over the air.

Local by default

Devices talk to Home Assistant on your network. No cloud account, no subscription.

Share-alike licence

CC BY-NC-SA 4.0: study it, build it, modify it for yourself. Ask before selling it.

Academy · in Spanish

A complete home automation course, free.

131 lessons from a university diploma programme, published in full on YouTube. From installing Home Assistant to programming the house in Python.

131lessons

3courses

$0to watch it all

Open the course on YouTube

Course 1

Foundations

Home Assistant and its mobile app, ESPHome devices, sensors, Bluetooth, NFC, first automations.

Course 2

Interfaces and logic

Dashboards and Jinja templates, helpers, scripts, the automation editor, Node-RED.

Course 3

Programming the house

AppDaemon apps, events and triggers, adaptive lighting, wake-up routines, presence simulation.

Custom design

Your device, designed to order.

Besides our own products, HELUX LABS designs hardware for companies and makers: from the first idea to boards, firmware and enclosures ready for a production run.

25+years designing hardware

Tell us about your project

Electronics

Schematic and PCB design: microcontrollers, sensors, power stages, battery charging and mains voltage.

Firmware

ESP32 firmware in ESP-IDF or ESPHome: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Thread, low power and over-the-air updates.

Enclosures and mechanics

CNC-machined aluminium, 3D-printed parts and moulds, designed together with the board.

Smart home integration

Devices that join Home Assistant from day one, and complete home automation installations.

Brief
You tell us what the device must do, where it will live and how many you need.
Design
Schematic, board, firmware and enclosure, reviewed with you at each stage.
Prototype
Assembled, tested units in your hands.
Hand-over
Files, documentation and support through the production run.

FAQ

Questions, answered.

Do I need the cloud or an account?

No. Inua talks to Home Assistant over your Wi-Fi through the ESPHome API. Nothing leaves your network.

What do I need to use it?

Home Assistant with the ESPHome integration and a 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi network.

Can I buy one today?

Not yet. Two functional prototypes are being tested in November 2026. Join the waitlist and we will write to you when the first batch can be ordered.

How long does the battery last?

The design estimate is about 80 µA asleep, which points to months between charges in normal use. Measured figures will be published once the prototypes have been used daily.

Is it really open?

The dimmer is on OSHWLab today and the Inua files go up with the build series, both under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. You can study, build and modify them for your own use. Commercial use needs permission.

Can I build the dimmer myself?

Yes, if you are qualified to work on mains wiring. The schematics, boards and bill of materials are on OSHWLab, and one unit costs about US$30 to reproduce.

Does Inua listen all the time?

No. On battery the microphone stays off until you turn the assistant face up or start the assistant from Home Assistant. On the dock it listens for the wake word on the device itself. Audio leaves Inua only while the assistant is listening, it goes only to your own Home Assistant, and Inua clicks when it starts. Nothing is sent to HELUX LABS.

What do you do with my e-mail?

If you join the waitlist, we keep your address and use it only to write to you about the Inua launch. If you use the contact form, your message goes to our inbox and we use your address only to reply. We do not pass addresses on to anyone. To be removed, write to hello@heluxlabs.ar.

How does Inua know which room it is in?

Each room gets one Bluetooth beacon: a HELUX smart switch, an iBeacon tag or any Bluetooth device that stays in place. While it is awake, Inua listens and takes the strongest one as the room. Home Assistant receives the room name and your automations act on that area. Without beacons it works as a single-room controller.

Follow HELUX LABS

From prototype to product, in the open.

Every step of Inua is published: the boards, the machining, the firmware and the first days of use. For custom electronics or a Home Assistant installation, write to us.

Subscribe on YouTube Designs on OSHWLab

Control your home with one gesture.

Meet Inua

Face up picks the function

Turn it like a knob

Slide it

Tap it

Shake it

Talk to it

Leave it on the dock

It knows the room

Try it right here.

Inside Inua

Every gesture is one event.

One cube, every room.

The same gesture, in the room you are in

Volume under your palm

Dim without looking

Push to open

Half a degree per click

Ask, then put it down

Shake for goodnight

HELUX products

Charging dock

Thread multisensor dimmer

Classroom swarm robots

Thread multisensor dimmer

Classroom swarm robots

What open means here

Published designs

Firmware you can read

Local by default

Share-alike licence

A complete home automation course, free.

Foundations

Interfaces and logic

Programming the house

Your device, designed to order.

Electronics

Firmware

Enclosures and mechanics

Smart home integration

Brief

Design

Prototype

Hand-over

Questions, answered.

From prototype to product, in the open.