Smart Home: Voice assistant for Home Assistant
The popular open source platform Home Assistant is getting a hardware addition: a voice assistant that can also be used to address devices in the smart home.
The Home Assistant Voice will initially be released as a "Preview Edition".
(Image: Nabu Casa)
The company behind the open-source smart home platform Home Assistant is expanding its hardware portfolio with a small box for interacting with the voice assistant "Assist". Home Assistant Voice is now available in a preview edition for just under 60 euros, manufacturer Nabu Casa announced on Thursday evening.
The square box serves as a voice interface to your own smart home. The small housing (84Ă—84Ă—21 mm) contains an ESP32-S3 chip with 8 MB RAM and 16 MB flash memory, an audio processor (XMOS XU316), a loudspeaker and two microphones. The box supports WLAN (2.4 GHz) and Bluetooth 5.0 Low Energy. The device also has a 3.5 mm audio jack and a USB-C port, which is also used to supply Home Assistant Voice with power.
It speaks German
With the open voice assistant Assist, Home Assistant Voice already speaks a variety of languages, including German. Straight out of the box, the device responds to the command "Okay Nabu", but other phrases can also be stored to wake it up. In addition to voice commands, the box can be operated using a rotary dial and a multifunction button. An LED ring indicates when the device is listening, but it can also signal volume and other values.
For fast voice processing, the manufacturer recommends that Home Assistant should run on systems with at least an Intel N100 processor. For weaker hardware, voice processing can also be outsourced to the cloud. Nabu Casa also offers cloud subscriptions for 7.50 euros per month or 75 euros per year.
According to the manufacturer, the built-in speaker is not suitable for playing music, but an external speaker can be connected to the 3.5 mm socket.
The voice box is compatible with Home Assistant and is also open source, emphasizes Nabu Casa. The company was founded by the developers of the platform and, with Home Assistant Yellow and Green, also offers basic hardware for installation in the smart home.
With or without the cloud
Home Assistant is compatible with a wide range of smart home systems and devices. The platform is open source and can be operated independently of the clouds of the major smart home providers on a computer at home. The system also runs on a Raspi or ESP board, for example.
"We all deserve a voice assistant that doesn't spy on our data or have limited functions," says Home Assistant founder Paulus Schoutsen. Home Assistant Voice is initially being released as a "preview edition" because the first device is only the beginning. The community should now help to further develop the platform.
"That's why we are rapidly developing our open source voice assistant for the home, which focuses on data protection," explains Schousten. "At the moment, it is not yet suitable for all households, but this will allow more people to participate in its development and take a look at the future of voice control today."
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