One of the great things about Home Automation technology is voice control. It makes people feel like they have a virtual assistant ready to follow commands when required. Voice control is one of those things that can truly change the way people conduct their lives. From the earliest forms of voice control tech to the sophisticated tools we currently have, voice control has improved tremendously over time. See what's new about this fantastic trend and how it prepares for the future.

It’s been a long run since the first time a computer was able to understand a human voice command. The year was 1952 and voice control technology was very limited. It was only capable of recognising digits that were spoken by a single voice, but the discovery was ground-breaking. It was the beginning of a fantastic technological journey.

The problem is that new technologies are very expensive. Plus the whole process to make it suitable for homes can take decades. Now we have the chance to access this technology and we don’t need to have a big budget.

Voice Control in Recent History

Google was still far from being the business giant we all know when Microsoft added voice recognition to Windows during the early 2000s. Google did come up with voice recognition a few years later when they added this feature to their cloud services. It was only the start, little by little this technology started growing and delivering more solutions. Then, along came Siri to give voice control a whole new meaning. 

Of course, voice control technology was only in its early stages and the things you were able to do, you could easily make them with your fingers. Having this technology available and affordable for people was going to take some time. It was a slow process but it was definitely going somewhere.

The Take-off

Voice control technology needed a boost. Something that would give traction to it. That’s when Amazon made its first appearance. The first Echo smart speaker had a unique quality. It came with Alexa, a virtual assistant that responded to voice commands. People could ask about tomorrow’s weather and receive a response from a friendly human voice. For the first time using voice control was faster and easier than typing for information.

Years have passed by and now Amazon, Google and Apple are heavily working on this technology. It will be a mixture of Amazon’s Echo and Google’s Smart Home Speakers. Apple is also on the race, they’re too working on similar technologies. The idea is that these devices come with the greatest integration among devices. There are many voice-control appliances in the market and these technology giants are looking to develop a way to integrate them for much powerful user experience.

Up until now, voice control devices work similarly. Once you unpack the product you download a mobile app. Then you connect the device and the app through your mobile and start giving commands, like: “Turn off the lights” or “play this video” etc.

One of the goals is having a platform that all smart technology developers can use to create their products, using a common interface. 

What’s Next For Voice Control Technology

Voice control technology is aiming towards adding context awareness on voice-controlled devices. This is the new path for voice control. Context-awareness means that your mobile will understand that you’re outside and need a ride, for example. It can make decisions based on context and surroundings. This technology will also work from inside the house. We’re talking about devices that will learn from the surroundings and change their actions based on them. Context-awareness will boost voice control to unparalleled levels of usefulness.

Taking Advantage of Voice Control

If you have a voice-controlled device at home, chances are that they’ve been manufactured by one of the big names in the industry. If you want to make the best out of your voice-controlled devices you can get a cloud-enabled device.

A good option is the Philips Hue, that you can connect it to a voice processor, like Google Home. As we speak many manufacturers are developing devices that will support any of the three big names in the voice control industry: Apple HomeKit, Alexa and of course, Google Assistant.

You can also opt to add voice control into the product by implementing speakers and cloud connectivity. Alternatively, you can also open a regular communication protocol and add your device so it works directly through a hub.

Any of these voice control alternatives have some requirements, Like security and bandwidth. Pay extra attention to what you say in front of the device, remember that they will become highly intuitive and make recognise a command but you maybe just talking to a friend. So remember to pay extra attention to that.

There’s still a long road for voice control, but its rapid progression is undeniable and it’s definitely one of the most fascinating aspects of Smart Home technology. Every day more and more manufacturers add it to their devices. Remember that we are the answer to all your Smart Home voice control needs. If you need guidance or have doubts on how to proceed with voice control technology, let us know.