The first-ever multilingual, AI-enabled crew call button

Traditional crew call buttons work in several steps: the call is made, a crew member responds to a location, finds out what a guest wants, and then brings the item to the guest. The new crew call button from OBEDIO cuts this to just one step.

Branko Blagojević spent ten years as an electro-technical officer (ETO) aboard superyachts and saw the weaknesses of existing crew call systems. “For years I watched interior crew run back and forth,” Branko says. “So I started building OBEDIO three years ago, while I was still working as an ETO, in every free moment I had. It comes from that experience, not from an office.”

^{Branko Blagojević, a superyacht ETO and inventor of OBEDIO}

OBEDIO turns a spoken request into a clear task for the crew on duty, raises emergency alerts, and connects to the yacht’s automation. For the guest, it all starts with the SmartButton, a wireless crew call button with a built-in microphone.

First exhibited as a prototype at the Superyacht Technology Show in Barcelona in March 2026, OBEDIO is already in service aboard superyachts.

A guest presses and holds the SmartButton on a table or bedside cabinet and speaks in their own language, asking, perhaps, for green tea and a blanket on the aft deck. In the onboard version, local AI on the yacht’s OBEDIO server transcribes the request and, if needed, translates it from any of 100 languages into English or the crew’s working language. The request appears on the watch or phone of the crew member on duty, who accepts it with a single tap. Unanswered requests are escalated.

Knowing the request in advance, crew arrive prepared and the guest receives the same personal attention with less waiting. Preparation can begin even before a charter, when guest preference sheets are imported with AI assistance in a few clicks. The aim is not to ask more of the crew, but to remove the avoidable work behind seemingly effortless service.

Privacy in the hardware

The SmartButton’s microphone has no power until the guest presses the button to speak. It is not just muted in software – there is no always-listening microphone waiting for a wake word.

The onboard version can run entirely without the cloud on a local server – cloud services are used only where a yacht chooses them. For yachts that prefer not to run a local server at all, OBEDIO also offers an encrypted cloud option. The optional Guest app adds another way in, from guests’ own phones and watches; combined with the cloud, it lets a yacht use OBEDIO without buttons or an onboard server.

Emergency capability

In an emergency, a guest shaking or throwing the SmartButton activates an emergency alarm on all crew devices. If a guest’s medical conditions or allergies have been entered into the system, those details appear alongside the alert. The gesture can be switched off where it is not wanted.

A system guests may rely on in an emergency has to work every time, and the onboard version does not depend on the yacht’s internet connection. “As an ETO, my rule was prevention before reaction,” says Branko. “OBEDIO is built so you can install it and forget it. So far, on the yachts where it runs, not a single request has been lost.”

The same thinking went into the battery: the SmartButton is built to run for a long time between charges. “Crew shouldn’t have to go round collecting buttons every few days to charge them,” he says.

Connecting with superyacht AV and lighting

OBEDIO is built to connect with the AV and lighting control systems, including Crestron, Control4, KNX, and Lutron, that are already installed. On Crestron, Branko says, it covers three roles: a guest-facing interface on the yacht’s control panels, a crew interface for spaces such as the pantry, and the ability to trigger lighting scenes, switch off lights, or lower blinds. The scope is tailored to each yacht’s installed systems. “Simplicity for guests, efficiency for crew,” he says. “Everything complicated stays behind the scenes.”

^{The new SmartButton line offers bespoke finishes to match superyacht interiors}

The metal SmartButton installed on yachts today remains in the range. Alongside it, OBEDIO is introducing a new line: a common technological core inside an interchangeable outer shell. True bespoke means that shell can be designed from scratch around the owner’s wishes and the yacht’s interior, going beyond a choice of finishes on a fixed shape. A sketch on paper can become the starting point, and when the interior changes, the shell can change with it.

“Time is the only luxury you cannot buy,” he says. “OBEDIO is there to protect it. Personal service remains personal. It simply begins better informed.”