Avoca to launch voice recognition for Control4 automation systems, enabling users to navigate to movies or set back thermostats just by saying so.
By Joe Whitaker April 21, 2011
Click here to view the full article
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.
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.
Click here to view the full article