Conestoga Grad Launches Smartphone Light Switch Device

PAOLI, PA — The Tredyffrin/Easttown School District and Conestoga High School are known for athletic and academic prowess. Patch has recently covered student athletes' plans to play their sports in college, but now a Conestoga alumni is making moves in the tech field.

Jason Tu, Conestoga Class of 2017, is a junior at Georgia Institute of Technology, AKA Georgia Tech.

Tu, a Paoli native, and two other students have created a tech-based solution the common issue of forgetting to turn off your lights.

Tu, Chris Scherban, and Sergey Savelyev developed Theory, a smart phone controlled way to turn your lights on and off.

"Chris and I would get into bed and forget to turn off the light," Tu told Patch.

The room he and Scherban shared their freshman year at Georgia Tech was set up with loft beds, so getting down to flip the lights off was inconvenient, he said.

"One night Chris said 'Alexa turn off the lights' and nothing happened, of course," Tu said.

The issue they found was that students were unable to alter dorm room light switches to have smartphone capabilities.

So Tu, Scherban, and Savelyev starting working on a solution.

Three years later, they are launching Theory via the Kickstarter crowdfunding platform, seeking $45,000 to get the project running.

Theory is simple to install and to use, as it does not require messing with wiring or screws, which is great for those living in dorms or rental properties, Tu said.

The device, called Theory Holmes, is placed over switches (there are to types to accommodate toggle and flat switches) and secure to walls using a Command strip, which is included with the device.

Then, you download the Theory app to control the switches outfitted with the Holmes device.

You can give using the app a try online here.

While the device physically covers the switch, it features a touch sensitive surface on the bottom half that lets users turn lights on and off with a touch if they don't want to use their smartphones.

Theory uses a device called Theory Morse to serve as the communicator between the Holmes device and your phone. Morse lets users to securely control your devices from anywhere in the world and can be automatically set up with the app.

Once the Holmes devices are installed and Morse is set up, users can start controlling light switches from iOS, Android, Web, Alexa, and Google Assistant.

Tu said those who back the project on Kickstarter can expect to have their devices by November or December, just in time for the holidays.

Learn more about Theory and contribute to the Kickstarter to get your devices here.