Voice-controlled digital assistants have become one of the most popular ways to interface with electronic devices. Voice-activated artificial intelligence (AI) digital assistants such as Google Assistant states Verto Analytics, are being used in 71 million American homes, representing 42% of all U.S. smartphone users. And Voicebot.ai states that voice-controlled smart speakers like Amazon Alexa are used by over 47 million Americans representing 20% of the adult population in the country. [Editor’s note: In Canada, the adoption of voice-controlled smart speakers hasn’t been as quick with an Edison Research and Triton report showing an uptake of 8% in the population 18 years of age or older.]
The popularity of voice-controlled interfaces is making them an increasingly common way for homeowners to control smart home devices. A Coldwell Banker survey has found that 48% of smart home owners already use voice controls, and 72% have expressed a desire to add it. .
The following describes three ways voice control systems are shaping the future of smart homes.
For many smart home users, entertainment applications such as smart speakers and smart TVs are the gateway to home automation, a trend which is making entertainment centers the focal point of the smart home revolution. Smart speakers are often purchased for listening to music initially, but they provide a convenient, wireless method for connecting other devices to smart home systems.
Smart TVs, now found in 70 million U.S. homes, can serve as a convenient foundation for a smart home system, with TV screens doubling as a tool for monitoring the remaining smart devices. At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES), industry presenters predicted that smart TVs would become the hub of smart homes in the near future. Consumers support this idea, with Parks Associates research showing two-thirds of smart homeowners and shoppers say they want devices that integrate with their home entertainment systems.
Parks Associates in polling smart homeowners has found that one of the most popular reasons to integrate entertainment centers is to use their smart TVs for home security monitoring. Security is the fastest-growing segment of the smart home market, as well as the smart home feature states Coldwell Banker, that consumers most respond to in marketing surveys. Today’s best security cameras and security camera systems have been designed to integrate with popular digital assistant systems to allow homeowners to use their voices in order to monitor and control home security.
For instance, you can use your smart TV or smartphone screen to view a video feed from security camera systems placed outside your home. You can then use your voice to control what is being viewed, telling the system which camera to view or which security footage to review. You can also issue voice commands. For instance, you can tell the system to turn your cameras to privacy mode, or use voice commands to open the front door remotely to allow in a visitor you have identified over the security camera. To ensure your applications remain secure and robust suppliers of these systems advise users to activate voice recognition features so smart home systems can distinguish who is an authorized user from who is not.
Another emerging trend is to use voice control for managing smart home appliances. For instance, appliance manufacturers such as Frigidaire and Jenn-Air have introduced voice-controlled smart home appliances, ranging from thermostats and air conditioners to washing machines and ovens. In the future, you may be able to prepare a meal remotely from your living room or even from your car by issuing commands to a smart refrigerator and stove.
An extension of this trend is the use of voice control for managing smart home robots. For instance, Google has introduced a voice-controlled vacuum cleaner. Voice-controlled robots could conceivably be used for other chores such as cleaning bathrooms, folding clothes and mowing the lawn.
From entertainment centers to security camera systems to home appliances and robots, voice control is making it easier for smart home users to enjoy the advantages of home automation. And as voice control technology continues to gain popularity, users will be able to perform an increasing range of home tasks at the sound of their voices.
[Editor’s Note: We recently purchased a Google Mini and have found the experience interesting. We have yet to hook up our smart TV and lighting systems to it but I am sure in time I will get around to it. Our biggest challenge was getting our Mini to remember our dog’s name, Maya, after a neighbour told it a different name. We had to turn it off and start it over again until it now knows that Jello is not the name of our dog. If you have experiences using voice-control devices like Alexa and Google Assistant, please write to us here at Techso Mogro blog and we promise to publish your stories. Thanks again, Roy, for sending us this posting.]
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In the past I have written about a number of smart devices that are altering our daily existence. This contribution places them within the context of the home of the future, and a not too distant one at that.
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The growth of the U.S. smart home market will grow to $22.4 billion by 2020, according to a report by Markets and Markets. With so much money spent on smart home advancements in just the last few years, it’s mind-boggling to think of what homes will look like in 100 years. Smart homes complete with intelligent appliances and cleaning robots will be the norm instead of the cutting edge. Here’s a look at what’s already happening today and what it might look like a century from now.
Homes have already started to be built on stilts to avoid flooding and can have solar panels on the roof to conduct energy. So, future dwellings will have their own power generation stations complete with wind turbines and geothermal energy to run efficiently by themselves, explains Future Technology 500.
Home owners also will see more robots doing chores like cleaning and organizing, which will make the Roomba look like a primitive toy. Your home will be able to take care of you instead of the other way around. Self-cleaning buildings will break down grime and convert toxins into a harmless nitrate to simply get washed away during the next rainstorm.
Smart appliances like Samsung refrigerators that are hooked up to Wi-Fi and ovens that can turn themselves on to preheat your dinner are already being introduced. In the future, refrigerators will tell you how much beef you have left, when the milk goes bad and clean itself without human intervention. Washers and dryers will be able to add their own soap and just the right amount of fabric softener. Hopefully, they will eliminate the expense of a dry cleaner and know how to clean delicate items on their own as well as fold your clothes to be put away.
Forget propping up your tablet to read a recipe while cooking. New stoves are already popping up with interactive touchscreen cook-tops for recipes, social media updates and weather. You also won’t need to worry about burning yourself with a cooking surface that uses induction to heat pots, according to The Verge. With these advancements, it’s easy to think that in 100 years, stoves will be able to adjust their own temperature according to how fast or slow the food is cooking, turn itself on and off at the right time and even tell you if the food is safe to eat. Stoves may even be able to figure out how many ingredients you used and add them to an automated grocery list for reorder without you having to do a thing.
In 2014, Google bought Nest, an intelligent smoke detector and thermostat company, for $3.2 billion. Nest can already figure out if your breakfast is burning, and if there’s a fire in your home, it can call for emergency assistance. The system also can alert you if there’s a threat of carbon monoxide poisoning and can turn off your gas on its own. Furthermore, it can adjust your thermostat and you can keep track of what your home is up to from your smartphone.
