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Voice Recognition Coming to Control4 Systems
Avoca to launch voice recognition for Control4 automation systems, enabling users to navigate to movies or set back thermostats just by saying so.
7-inch Control4 touchpanel with Avoca voice recognition technology
Have you seen the hilarious video of two Scottish guys trying to control an elevator via voice? (Warning: profanity).
It’s pretty much the same joke (but funnier) that has played out in the home automation space since the advent of the MasterVoice Butler-in-a-Box some 20 years ago.
The stuff has never worked very well and users generally look foolish (meaning no disrespect to Home Automated Living, Homeseer and other home automation vendors who continue to support voice recognition).
The downside of voice recognition: Two Scottish guys trying to ride an elevator. Warning: extreme hilarity and profanity.But there are so many wonderful applications for voice control – beyond its obvious benefit to disabled users – that the work continues from the likes of Amulet and, more recently, Avoca.
Ontario, Canada-based Avoca Semiconductor has demonstrated voice-activated A/V and home automation systems for a couple of years but it looks like the company is almost there. During the recent Electronic House Expo (where I suggested in my “Game Changers” session that voice control trumps gesture control), Avoca demonstrated its voice-enabled solution for Control4.
Integrator and CE Pro contributor Joe Whitaker offers his take on the system. – Julie Jacobson
At EHX 2011, Avoca principal Iain Scott controlled lights, music, scenes, even a DVD (The Matrix, of course) through voice. I was astounded at how well it worked. I was surprised not because the show floor was noisy, but because Scott has as a thick Scottish accent – just like the guys in that elevator video.
I always thought nationality would be the biggest obstacle for voice-controlled devices, as in the case of the other Scotty who travels back in time in a Star Trek movie and tries to talk to the unresponsive computer.
The technology Avoca calls Voice-enabled User Interface, or VUI, falls into a category called Voice Control and Search Technology (VCST).
While VCST has been successfully deployed for years by government and other agencies around the globe, the service has not made its way into consumer electronics in any meaningful way, except for mobile phones and GPS devices. These devices are often subject to hands-free laws that mean to keep drivers focused on the road ahead.
In the home, no one is making you talk to your TV, and you could look very silly doing it, especially if the technology is such that you have to repeat yourself to, “Record Myth Busters at 6:00.” (“Did you say, ‘Purchase Dust Busters on CVS?’”)
In theory, voice control is the easiest way for people to express their “wants and needs,” says Scott. The technology is becoming ever more compelling with shrinking remote controls and TVs, and a baffling array of entertainment options. Scott says, “Voice is the only technology that lets you go straight to what you want.”
After seeing the technology firsthand I couldn’t agree more. Even with short-cuts and “favorites” on a standard remote control or touchscreen, bringing up a DVD can still take three button presses.
With voice control, there’s just one button to press: the one that puts the device into “listen” mode.
Why do we even have to press that one button?
It’s pretty much the same joke (but funnier) that has played out in the home automation space since the advent of the MasterVoice Butler-in-a-Box some 20 years ago.
The stuff has never worked very well and users generally look foolish (meaning no disrespect to Home Automated Living, Homeseer and other home automation vendors who continue to support voice recognition).
The downside of voice recognition: Two Scottish guys trying to ride an elevator. Warning: extreme hilarity and profanity.
Ontario, Canada-based Avoca Semiconductor has demonstrated voice-activated A/V and home automation systems for a couple of years but it looks like the company is almost there. During the recent Electronic House Expo (where I suggested in my “Game Changers” session that voice control trumps gesture control), Avoca demonstrated its voice-enabled solution for Control4.
Integrator and CE Pro contributor Joe Whitaker offers his take on the system. – Julie Jacobson
A Modern-Day Scotty
At EHX 2011, Avoca principal Iain Scott controlled lights, music, scenes, even a DVD (The Matrix, of course) through voice. I was astounded at how well it worked. I was surprised not because the show floor was noisy, but because Scott has as a thick Scottish accent – just like the guys in that elevator video.
I always thought nationality would be the biggest obstacle for voice-controlled devices, as in the case of the other Scotty who travels back in time in a Star Trek movie and tries to talk to the unresponsive computer.
Challenges of Voice Technology
The technology Avoca calls Voice-enabled User Interface, or VUI, falls into a category called Voice Control and Search Technology (VCST).
While VCST has been successfully deployed for years by government and other agencies around the globe, the service has not made its way into consumer electronics in any meaningful way, except for mobile phones and GPS devices. These devices are often subject to hands-free laws that mean to keep drivers focused on the road ahead.
In the home, no one is making you talk to your TV, and you could look very silly doing it, especially if the technology is such that you have to repeat yourself to, “Record Myth Busters at 6:00.” (“Did you say, ‘Purchase Dust Busters on CVS?’”)
In theory, voice control is the easiest way for people to express their “wants and needs,” says Scott. The technology is becoming ever more compelling with shrinking remote controls and TVs, and a baffling array of entertainment options. Scott says, “Voice is the only technology that lets you go straight to what you want.”
After seeing the technology firsthand I couldn’t agree more. Even with short-cuts and “favorites” on a standard remote control or touchscreen, bringing up a DVD can still take three button presses.
With voice control, there’s just one button to press: the one that puts the device into “listen” mode.
Why do we even have to press that one button?
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Article Topics
News · Product News · Videos · Home Automation and Control · Control Systems · Lighting · Energy Management · Events · EHX Spring · Control4 · Voice Control · Avoca ·About the Author
Joe Whitaker is the Senior Development Director at The Soho Shop an integration firm in St. Charles Missouri that specializes in solution based residential and light commercial systems. Having Co-Founded the #1 Control4 dealership in San Antonio and central Texas, Revolution IT, Joe has went on to help build other companies in system design and process development. Joe’s involvement in the custom electronics industry has been beneficial to more than just the companies he has helped to deploy technology, having added a helping hand to marketing, product and technical editorials, product designs, new product concepts, and joining some of the leading manufacturers development and testing teams.
4 Comments (displayed in order by date/time)
Good point. I can say that this technology is moving toward the point that hands free will be possible. The main point with the tech at this time is that instead of having to go through several screens or button presses to make any selection you can just say a sequence of words that goes directly to your choice.
Did you ever think that pushing the button once avoids having compromising videos come on automatically while you have conservative house guests. Probably worth pushing one button.
a-voca to me implies “without voice.” without hands would be a bit more appropriate, don’t you think?
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that technology is awesome. only complaint is you have to push the button. if i made the effort to walk over to the touch screen i can make the effort to make 2 or 3 more button pushes.