Make everyday life simpler with a smart speaker

In fact, IBM launched a product that could respond to human speech and recognise 16 words and digits back in 1961*. Apple introduced its voice assistant Siri in April 2011 and Amazon swiftly followed this up in November that same year by unveiling its first smart speaker – Amazon Echo – featuring the voice assistant Alexa. Amazon Echo’s Alexa is arguably regarded as the first voice assistant to be tailored to consumers.

Technology has developed a lot since then, and the voice assistants developed by big corporations like Amazon, Google and Apple are now being integrated into all kinds of products, including mobile phones, computers, tablets, cars and speaker systems.

How can a smart speaker make life easier?

The answer is simple: a smart speaker is always ready to respond to any questions you have or do anything you ask. The latest smart speakers come with built-in microphones, which have a good enough range to pick up sounds even from a distance. You just need to say a particular trigger or activation word – “Alexa” for Amazon, “Hey Google” for Google or “Hey Siri” for Apple – and the speaker will listen out for your request. You then follow this up with your question or by asking the voice assistant to do something.

Modern smart speakers offer a whole range of possibilities. They are often used for things like playing music, listening to the news or the weather forecast, or finding out more or less anything you want to know or ask about in general. They can also tell you the time, note down items on your shopping list and update you on the stock markets – and much more.

A smart speaker for a smart home

So what can a smart speaker do for you and your life at home? Assuming you already have a smart home system or are intending to set one up, a smart speaker is more or less essential. These days, most home devices can be connected to the system, which naturally makes routine daily tasks easier – and not just for tech nerds either; this can be a big help for families with children or elderly people who are starting to find it harder to keep on top of everyday activities at home.

You could imagine a smart speaker as a kind of “extra arm”, always on hand to help you around the house. Here are some examples of what you can ask a smart speaker to do:

• Close the roller blinds
• Play some music on your terrace or balcony
• Turn the lights on in your living room
• Switch on the coffee machine
• Turn the temperature down in the children’s room
• Take a snapshot with the camera
• Tell you what temperature it is in the bedroom
• Dim the lights in the hallway
• Open the garage door

As you can see, the possibilities are almost endless. And you can make these happen in your home too with a winning combination of a voice assistant and Somfy’s TaHoma switch. To put it simply, you can make your life simpler!

*Source: Voicebot.ai