The future of voice assistants at home & beyond

We all have an image of a PA in our minds, and they usually work for a powerful businessman, celebrity or some sort other of high-flyer.

Most of us would never dream of using these services in our own lives, despite always needing more help or time, but increasingly we are, without even noticing. That is due to the rise in voice assistants which are appearing in an increasing number of forms and making their way into our everyday routines.

To explain further, Rio Heating, specialists in smart heating share their insight into the future of voice assistants and how our homes are slowly becoming smarter.

What are voice assistants?

Voice assistants were often a feature of science fiction films, and appeared to form a vision of the future that seemed to be so far away, but they are here now in our phones, our smart speakers and even our central heating. They use artificial intelligence to hear us, understand us and respond in the necessary way, making them a feature of our lives that we are starting to rely upon.

We use a ‘wake’ to get the attention of our voice assistants, which is usually by calling their name or holding down a button. The voice assistant will then convert what we ask to actionable data which takes the form of text, and the device is able to look for the meaning. It can then use the internet, an app or a cloud platform to find the information it needs before converting into speech and communicating it to us.

The instructions we give these devices might include a request for information, playing music or setting a timer, but each time we speak, the machine learns something new and hones its own abilities.

An assistant in your home

Our experience with voice assistants started with our phones back in 2011, but these have now expanded into all sorts of devices that can work within our homes. Not only can they be used to answer a question, they can also now perform tasks for us such as ordering items online, scheduling meetings or turning the lights on.

It is even possible to control the heating your home through smart heating which is hooked up to your devices voice assistant. It can be told to turn the heating up or down, or even to direct which rooms should be heated. You can check what temperature the heating is currently set to, switch on the hot water ready for a bath and give you a completely personalised experience that other systems simply cannot offer.

The future

The use of voice assistants will only grow from here, and it could make almost everything in our homes controlled by just our own speech. The more we use these assistants, the more intelligent they become, meaning that their use can be extended. In a world where speed has the ultimate value, voice assistants can make processes much quicker, keeping hands free for other tasks. It is believed that the voice recognition market will grow by around 17% by 2025.

It is predicted that the ‘wake’ call we are used to using for every element of a conversation with a device will be faded out, meaning it will only be used the first time you speak to them. Push notifications will also become a much bigger features, so they will be able to remind you to turn the heating off or order the weekly shop.

Voice assistants are now here to stay, and their use is almost unavoidable. They are here to make our lives easier and streamline everything we do, leaving us with more time to do the things we enjoy by making the most of having a PA in our own homes.