As a writer and content creator, I have been following home automation and smart home development from its earliest days. You would think that I would have invested in my first home automation device by now. Yet I have not. What is holding me back? An inadequate level of voice control. As far as I am concerned, that’s where it’s at.
When I eventually make my home smart, I want to be able to control every device in the system by voice. Fortunately, we are getting ever closer to the day when total voice control is reality. I can easily see voice control being capable of meeting my needs within the next 12-24 months.
The Challenges With Voice Control
In fairness, a certain level of voice control is already available. For example, I could invest in a Vivint Smart Home system to fully automate everything from my thermostat to my lighting to my home security devices. Vivint also supports popular smart speakers from Google and Amazon. Therefore, I could issue verbal commands to turn lights on and off. I could control the thermostat with my voice.
So what’s the problem? The main challenge with voice control is recognition. Unlike the human brain, a smart speaker cannot parse language to understand intent. So if a consumer does not speak clearly or use commands the smart speaker recognizes, theywill not get the desired results.
If you already own a Google or Amazon smart speaker, you know the drill. You need to use very specific commands to get the results you want. If your commands are off even by a little, no dice. And if you do not speak clearly and concisely, your smart speaker may not be able to decipher what you want.
Natural Language Processing Is the Key
The key to solving the current challenges of voice recognition is something known as natural language processing (NLP). NLP is the ability to understand and correctly parse human language using computer algorithms. Google, Amazon, and other tech companies have invested tremendously in NLP over the last five or six years. They have made great strides in developing it.
NLP actually works pretty well these days. It works so well that I rely heavily on it for my writing. Due to a physical disability, I don’t do much typing. Rather, I speak to my computer and trust my voice recognition software to turn my words into text. My software is capable of an impressive level of accuracy. I do not have to make many edits now, compared to five or six years ago.
The challenge now is to bring modern NLP into the smart home space. Rest assured home automation designers are working on it. My impression is that they are getting pretty close. I don’t think it will be too much longer before a typical smart speaker will be as accurate as my current dictation software.
I Have High Hopes
I know enough about NLP to have high hopes for the future of home automation. I am looking forward to the day when most of the devices in my home can be controlled using nothing but voice commands. The only reason I have not fully invested in home automation is my desire to wait until voice control is up to the task. But we are nearly there.
Do you have home automation devices in your home? If so, how many of them do you control through voice commands? As far as I am concerned, voice control is where it’s at. Why automate if I still need to pull out a phone to control my system?
