Russian technology company Yandex recently announced its first smart home ecosystem powered by its own Alice virtual assistant. Leading smart home product manufacturers such as Philips, Xiaomi, Samsung, and Redmond will also offer Yandex compatible smart home products, including smart bulbs, plugs, and appliances. This will allow users to give voice commands to Alice-equipped devices to turn on lights, adjust the thermostat, control TV, make coffee and do much more.
Denis Chernilevsky, Head of Alice-enabled device development at Yandex said,
A year ago we brought Alice into users’ homes with the launch of Russia’s first smart speaker, Yandex.Station. These new smart home capabilities will offer Russian users the next level of automated living, complementing Alice’s existing comprehensive skill set. Today we’re bringing our users a voice-controlled smart home ecosystem powered by Yandex’s world-class speech and AI technologies.
Yandex’s smart home system runs on an open API, allowing third-party manufacturers to integrate their smart devices. The platform also supports custom routines which allow multiple smart home accessories to be activated with a single command. For example, “Good Morning, Alice” phrase will turn on electric kettle, play music, and even raise temperature on thermostat.
In addition to integration with third-party smart home devices, Yandex is also releasing a range of its own smart home gadgets, including Smart Bulb, Smart Plug, and Smart Remote Control. Users can adjust the brightness and color of the Smart Bulb, while Smart Plug can turn on any device with voice commands. The Smart Remote Control enables Alice to control devices appliances including air conditioners and TVs.
Also Read: Chatterbox: DIY Smart Speaker Kit for Kids to Learn About Artificial Intelligence
The Smart Bulb and Smart Plug will be available for 1,190 rubles ($19) each and the Smart Remote Control will sell for 1,390 rubles ($21) on Beru, at Yandex store in Moscow, and later in June through Svyaznoy retail locations.
Via: Yandex
