It is nowadays standard practice to say “ok Google” to ask the known search engine to help us to obtain information. In the same way, using our devices (smartphone, PC, etc.), we communicate more and more with Siri or Alexa, two of the most famous voice assistants on the market.
However, inside the home commands are still manual.
But in the next few months we will witness a revolution that will also affect the home environment, as manufacturers have already launched on the markets the first “smart speakers”. We are talking about devices as big as a normal speaker, but equipped with “artificial intelligent, capable of exploiting voice assistant capabilities. They can distinguish the voice of the owner, answer, and most of all execute a number of commands.
During the first stage, these solutions have only been used to broadcast music or give information. All this without the need of pressing buttons, perform configurations or read complex manuals. A success that has pushed manufacturers to make smart speakers communicate with intelligent home appliances, and in particular home controls: from switching on lights to closing rolling shutters, going through temperature adjustments and operating the garden watering system.
In order to achieve this, smart speakers make the most of the capabilities offered by the Cloud, where most of the intelligence can be found.
A revolution that has involved the main manufacturers of smart home solutions, who are striving to develop home automation further and further.
The most important brands have in fact undersigned a number of agreements to enable smart speakers to communicate with home devices, from thermostats to door entry systems. All this through wireless connections, and therefore without the need of installing further wiring systems when adding new functions or devices.
Market expectations are decidedly high. So much so, that according to the studies, during the next three years 40% of users will prefer to use voice assistants, rather than Apps and websites.
