Today, we’re diving into the seventh chapter of Home Assistant, where we’re discovering some very exciting new features for the voice assistant. Prepare to be amazed by the improvements to wake words and the addition of artificial intelligence to control your home ;-)
microWakeWord: even more powerful wake-ups
Remember when Home Assistant could detect wake words like “Hey Jarvis”? Well, thanks to the incredible Kevin Ahrendt and his microWakeWord, we can now do all that directly on microcontrollers like the ESP32. And it’s open source! No more fees for wake words. Now, these little gems can support multiple wake words simultaneously and with increased accuracy. Imagine: your assistant can now recognize three different wake words at the same time. Not bad, right?
Kevin joins Nabu Casa
Speaking of Kevin, he has joined Nabu Casa to continue working on microWakeWord and voice management in ESPHome. This is great news, because it means even more innovations to come. This is made possible by everyone who supports Home Assistant Cloud, because your contribution makes it all possible!
Timers galore!
The feature that many have been waiting for is finally here: timers. You can now create, cancel, pause, resume and adjust the duration of your timers just by speaking. “Create a 5-minute timer” or “Add 2 minutes to my pizza timer” – it’s simple and super convenient.
Timed Commands
But why stop there? Now you can trigger commands with a delay. “Turn off the lights in 10 minutes” becomes a reality. Whether it’s to turn off a light, pause the TV, or open the blinds, your assistant is now more flexible than ever. Just note that these timed commands cannot be canceled or changed once they’ve been issued. So, be specific!
AI takes control
Artificial intelligence is making its way into Home Assistant. With the 2024.6 update, AI agents can control your devices. Whether it’s Google AI or OpenAI, try out these new capabilities on your voice hardware. This is just the beginning, and while it’s not perfect yet, it’s a great step forward for those who want to experiment.
Scripts and LLM
To expand the possibilities even further, version 2024.7 will allow large language models (LLMs) to access approved scripts. This means you can create specific scripts for specific situations. For example, an “I’m leaving the house” script that locks the door but leaves the air conditioning on. You can even add fields to guide the AI depending on whether you’re leaving for a short or long time. It’s custom AI!
Improved Media Control
Assist, Home Assistant’s in-home voice assistant, can now control media players with simple commands like “pause,” “resume,” “next,” and “turn volume to 100%.” If you have multiple players in a room, Assist will know which one to control based on its state. How handy?
Easy Updates
Finally, with Over-the-Air updates, keeping your voice assistant up to date has never been easier. You can now update your devices directly from Home Assistant without the need for the ESPHome add-on. A real revolution for those who like hassle-free updates.
So, that was a quick overview of the latest Home Assistant features. If you want to know more, don’t forget to check out the Home Assistant blog. We’ll find ourselves discovering this in more detail, because I just received some little Atom Echo cards to start playing with this assistant ;-)
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