iSpeech Brings "Siri-Like" Voice Recognition Platform To The Home

Talking to one's car and smartphone isn't nearly as strange as it used to be, largely thanks to things like in-car infotainment systems and products such as Google Now and Siri. But talking to the walls of one's home? That's still pretty loony. Soon, however, a company named iSpeech hopes that it won't be so odd. The company has launched a "Siri-like" voice recognition platform for the connected home, which aims to give homeowners the ability to use their voice to control things like the HDTV, kitchen appliances, and more. Even things like the thermostat and lighting can be controlled by voice, not to mention a washer / dryer and even a security system. It's all based on natural language commands, so you shouldn't have to remember too many quirky commands in order to get things done.


Curious about the specifics? Here's a bit from the company:

The iSpeech Home platform has been built on top of a hybrid-embedded and server speech recognition architecture that allows for improved response times and availability of service when compared to a network-only solution. When combined with iSpeech's human quality text to speech, the platform transforms natural voice commands into a conversational experience with artificial intelligence. iSpeech currently supports 26 languages and can support voices commands such as the following:

"Watch ESPN" or "Find movies starring Tom Hanks"
"Record American Idol"
"Turn on stereo and play Lady Gaga"
"Set temperature in house to 70 degrees" or "What's the temperature in the house now?"
"Turn off the lights in the living room"
"Turn on the alarm"

It'll probably be a year or so before the platform is pushed out, and it's still unclear if it'll work nicely with smartphone apps, but there's definitely some real potential here to turn the home automation market more mainstream.