Dreamedia recently had the chance to test the Josh.ai touchscreen in one of our fully finished smart home builds. Installed in a beautiful modern home in Silverthorne, Colorado, this system gave us a full tour of what smart living can feel like when everything just works together.

What Is the Josh Touchscreen?

The Josh.ai touchscreen is a wall-mounted control system that gives you access to all your smart home features lights, music, shades, media, and more, through a clean interface. You can control it with your voice, by tapping the screen, or even using on-screen typing. Unlike other voice assistants, Josh focuses on privacy and doesn’t sell or share your data.

Flexible Mounting Options

In this install, the touchscreen was mounted on drywall using a retrofit mount. It sticks out a bit from the wall, but it’s also available with flush mounts for new construction. Wall-Smart offers flush mount kits that blend seamlessly into modern flat-textured walls.

Quick View Status and Navigation

As soon as the screen wakes up, you get a simple overview of your home — the time, weather, how many lights are on, which shades are open, and any active audio or video. From there, it’s one tap or voice command to manage anything you want. Navigation is fast and clear, especially when hardwired using PoE (Power over Ethernet).

Built-In Motion and Automation

The touchscreen includes a motion sensor that wakes the screen automatically. You can also set it to trigger automations like turning on the lights when someone walks by. It’s smart, simple, and adds another layer of ease to your everyday routines.

Voice, Text, and AI Features

You can press and hold the microphone icon to speak a command. Josh also supports typed commands and voice-to-text. It even answers everyday questions using ChatGPT, showing the response right on the screen or sending it to your phone.

Room-Based Control

Josh uses photo-based room navigation, making it easy to know exactly what you’re controlling. You can group rooms by floor or zone, and once you choose a room, you’ll see all the available devices in that location.

Lighting and Shades

The lighting control panel lets you dim lights down to 1% with Lutron dimmers, control individual fixtures or groups, and shut everything off at once. Shades work the same way — open or close all at once or make fine adjustments for each one.

Music, Video, and Scenes

You can launch your favorite content from devices like Kaleidescape, Roku, or Nintendo Switch. Scenes are also available, letting you combine lighting, shades, music, and video into a single routine — like “Good Morning” or “Movie Night.”

Whole-Home Audio Without App Switching

One of the most convenient features is how Josh connects directly to your home audio systems like Sonos or Autonomic. You can play music across multiple rooms without switching between apps. Just tell Josh what you want, and it handles the rest.

Smarter Doorbell Alerts

The touchscreen can connect to your smart doorbell system and use AI to tell you who’s at the door. For example, it can recognize a delivery and say “UPS just dropped off a package.” There’s no two-way video, which helps protect your privacy.

Privacy-First Smart Home Control

Josh is different from Alexa or Google Home because it’s built to protect your data. Your commands are processed locally, not in the cloud. The microphone also has a physical disconnect when muted, giving you full control over when it's listening.

Why We Recommend It

The Josh.ai touchscreen is a reliable and polished way to manage your smart home. It's ideal for anyone who wants:

• Fast, clean control of lights, shades, music, and video
• Powerful voice and text interaction
• Simple navigation with photo-based rooms
• Easy integration with Sonos, Kaleidescape, Lutron, and more
• Privacy and local processing

Most of all, it’s distraction-free. No text messages, no social apps — just clean, focused control.

Want One in Your Home?

The Josh system can work on top of other automation systems like Control4, Crestron, or Savant. If you're planning a new home or upgrading an existing one, Dreamedia is here to help you design a setup that fits your lifestyle.

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