Nothing founder Carl Pei wants products to have an "element of human warmth"

Carl Pei says that products today feel cold and soulless in an interview with CNBC

Carl Pei, one of the former founder's of smartphone darlings OnePlus wants to do something different. The philosophy behind his new company named 'Nothing' was laid bare in a interview with CNBC.

He told the publication he wanted to see an element of "human warmth" in the products.

“Products are not just cold electronics,” he said. “They’re designed by people and intelligently used by people. It feels like product companies (today) are run by large corporations.”

Nothing's endeavour's will also have a unique "retro futuristic" design approach, Pei says that the company spent a lot of time perfecting its design philosophy.  They will also aim to be minimalistic in terms of features offered to users. Taking an example of noise cancellation in a set of headphones, Pei said that rather than having "20 different levels" of cancellation, Nothing will offer only a maximum of two or three settings which is more in line with what people actually need.

Pei has high hopes that Nothing will shake things up in the industry the same way Apple managed to do so with the colourful iMac G3 back in the day.

“Today it’s like the PC industry in the 80s and 90s, where everybody made grey boxes,” Pei said.

Pei also believes that innovation on the whole has slowed down and more companies are content with inching the needle forward but charging the consumers double or triple.

“There’s a general feeling of, ‘Why should I upgrade my tech?’ because each new generation is sort of similar to the previous one” Pei said.

“In the past, people were so optimistic about technology. But now people are indifferent. And there must be a way of breaking the cycle,” he added.

Pei says he is also frustrated with having to download several different apps for each device he owns. His vision of an ecosystem would be to take a leaf out of Apple's book and build devices that are supported by the same software.

“We see a future where technology is everywhere but also nowhere,” said Pei. “The first step for us is to create an ecosystem of smart devices that can connect seamlessly with each other.”