is voice control a bit of a gimmick?

Stoner

https://www.fastcodesign.com/3066732/why-is-the-home-automation-industry-so-obsessed-with-voice-control

I'd agree with a lot of this. I still just use the apps for switching

bk

Stoner wrote: »

https://www.fastcodesign.com/3066732/why-is-the-home-automation-industry-so-obsessed-with-voice-control

I'd agree with a lot of this. I still just use the apps for switching

Yup, though if you read carefully he isn't talking about apps. He is talking about "text" and specifically AI in Facebook messenger.

To be honest, I'm not at all convinced by that. Are people really going to take their phone out of their pocket, unlock their phone, launch Facebook messenger and start a conversation with an AI there just to turn on the lights or change the channel! I really don't think so.

Sure nothing wrong with having an AI in a messenger and asking it to do something if you happen to have it open at the time. But I think it is a massive mistake to think it is the only place you will have it and so far it feels like Facebook have missed the boat on it.

I think we will have these AI's everywhere and that we will simply interact with it in whatever is the most convenient (and socially acceptable) for the time, place and task. We will have it in every room in our house via voice, in the car, on every screen (tv, laptop, tablet, phone) and smart watch. We will interact with them in different ways, at different times and for different tasks. Sometimes we will ask it questions by voice, sometimes by text, another time by apps. And they will answer in different ways depending on the task, by voice or by displaying the answer on the nearest screen.

GHome and Echo aren't meant to be the be all and to replace everything that has come before. No, they are meant to be an important missing piece in human machine interaction and to work alongside all the other ways that we have had to interact with machines for decades now (apps, text, etc.).

And BTW voice isn't the only new way to interact with machines. Vision and movement are two others. You have Xbox camera and Wii movement wands. And now you have IP cameras that can detect movement, to differentiate between a human and a pet and even starting to identify people!

All of these technologies will continue to develop, improve and merge over time.

BTW I have to say that I think the example given in the article is rather contrived. Zuck says if someone calls at the door you don't want an AI voice announcing it and disturbing your other guests. Instead your phone would discreetly vibrate and you would pull it out and use it to open the door!

I don't know, sure if you are hosting 100 people parties every night and you are constantly having people calling at the door that might be the case, but I don't think it is true for most people! I think most people don't have many people who call at the door and most families would be interested in knowing who is calling. I know any time someone calls at our door and I go and answer, that when I return the OH is always asking me who it was!

I'd love to have a ring doorbell that could identify who is calling and then have GHome announce that the neighbour Kevin is at the door and for me to be able to tell GHome to let him in. I don't think most of us have Zucks problems!

I know everyone is different in their use of technology like this and that is great, we should be embracing that there are so many different ways to do things now.

That I can turn on my lights by a physical switch, or an app or by voice or by geolocation or by time or by light levels. An option for every different type of person.

For me, I find I control my home automation tech using voice about 50% time, using physical controls (Hue switches, Harmony remote, Netatmo Thermostat) about 40% of the time and use the apps only about 10%

Basically the only time I use the apps now is for remote access and for complicated initial setup and the very odd time when I've lost the remote in the room.

But then again everyone is different and that is the beauty of this tech, there is something here for everyone

unkel

Voice control is not a gimmick. This time last year, when I left the living room for the night, I had to switch off 3 or 4 lamps. Unplug several Christmas lights, on the fireplace, on the Christmas tree and the outside lights.

This year I say "Alexa, lights off" and that's it. QED.

Total investment: 2 * €24.95 plug + 1 * £39.99 Echo dot. So about €100 was all...

Stoner

unkel wrote:

This year I say "Alexa, lights off" and that's it. QED.

I've a scene switch on the wall, with an all off button and an all on button , has three scenes too. I haven't used voice control there since I got it .

I showed it off twice today though and use it for music every day.

ibFoxer

I think I'm fairly new to the game, but apart from the odd disconnection issue which has more to do with my wifi than anything else, I find it to be super. Have a Dot upstairs, one downstairs in the front room and a Google Home in the kitchen. White Hue lights in the hall, landing, coloured in the front room (aptly named cave),2 coloured in the kitchen with a white in a lamp controlled by a dimmer. Herself found the colour change last night and decided red and green for Christmas Day, and promptly asked me could we have a smart house, so I'm all set ��

I have a bunch of different scenarios for coming, going, on and off, times etc. Loving it.

Stoner

So from my point of view voice control for Google searches and for use with Spotify Google home and the Dot is better than typing.

But I prefer buttons ( soft and hard) for switching

unkel

Stoner wrote: »

But I prefer buttons ( soft and hard) for switching

I understand where you're coming from and I like buttons / switches in general too and I do acknowledge that voice can be a bit daft in company, but there is a lot to say for it.

Your voice is always with you (bit of a cliché ), you never have to go over to where the switch / button / plug is and like bk, I'm not on my phone that much and it would take me forever to control anything with my phone

bk

Yup, well I definitely don't think it is a gimmick (the OP's question), I definitely think it is here to stay and will only improve over time.

But also it won't necessarily replace all the old ways of doing things either, physical buttons, apps, etc. They all have their place.

What I find interesting about this question, is that this is a new technology and any time we get a new interface to machines, it takes time for people to figure out how to best use it. How does it work best, what circumstances to use it for, what use cases, when is it socially acceptable to use it, etc.

When touch screens first came about, some people thought they would end up being used everywhere, even in offices! Well now we know that just didn't happen, other then the odd exception, a keyboard and mouse still rules the office environment, because they are still much better then touch screens for office use. But that doesn't mean touch screens were useless either, of course not, we all carry a touch screen smart phone around in our pocket now and many have touch screen tablets. We just had to figure out when and where to use them.

With voice, we will go through a similar evolution as people figure out how to use it, when and what for. It is very interesting times we live in

unkel

bk wrote: »

It is very interesting times we live in

Isn't it just? We are very lucky to be alive in these times when so much is changing. I remember telling people that we were in the greatest revolution of mankind back in the mid 90s with the WWW starting to explode and people looked at me like I was on drugs. Now, just 20 years later, everything is completely different from what it was 30 years ago

Stoner

I think that intellectual profiling and automation will supersede a lot of voice control features, as it stands I used Google home to role a dice and start a timer for a minute a number of times today. we also had a laugh at how well it understands me compared to some of the others, I was the only one to get it to play Wham, last Christmas, that turned out to be a bit freaky too, well maybe not, it was Christmas day after all.

Stoner

http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/science-technology/757789/Amazon-Echo-Google-Home-Apps-Unistall

Some rated data on some of the third party integration, shows a lower retention rate on Echo and Home to Android and IOS