New Cell Phone capabilities are making it possible for users.
January 5, 2012

Voice controls using HomeSeer (HS2) software on your PC has been available for several years. HS2 is one of the only automation programs available that's designed to work with voice recognition! Support is included for open air room microphones, headsets and via telephone. For more details see this solution from JCL Automation.

More recently voice recognition has been a feature available on the latest model cell phones. And we think nothing of people wandering around seemingly talking to themselves instead of a phone friend through a nearly invisible ear bud. What has spurred this increasingly “normal” behavior? First off is the mobile revolution and, with it, a rash of distracted driver laws that beg for hands-free solutions. Technology is generally keeping up with those needs, and in turn spurring interest in its use for other applications like home automation and entertainment.

The attraction for home automation and entertainment controls is simplicity of use!

Home automation users may remember when touchscreens were darn near the easiest things to operate when it came to picking a song or a zone or a whole-house scene? Now users must drill through layers of menus to find exactly what they’re looking for - even in the most well-crafted interface. Furthermore, they actually have to look at their screen and free up a hand or two to punch buttons or scroll through a song list. That can be challenging when the hands are full or the interface device is not readily accessible.

So, voice control is one better way, especially now that Apple has delivered the highly regarded and heavily hacked Siri voice-recognition interface. Now Microsoft is following suit with voice recognition for Kinect.

There are other promising “alternative input technologies” as well, including biometrics, gesture control, near field communication (NFC) and RFID.

Those building a new home or doing a major remodel can install motion-sensing cameras for gesture control, and run extra Cat 5 to door locations for access control via voice, NFC or RFID.

All of these technologies are available and working quite well today. So voice control as a next step in the UI is not so laughable as it may have been several years ago

A futuristic thought: why not a biometric reader on your remote controls? Each family member has 10 different fingers that could activate 10 different parentally-controlled functions.

The above includes extractions from a recent article by Julie Jacobson, Editor-at-large, CE Pro.