Voice Control Tops Home Technology Trends At CEDIA 2018

The Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association (CEDIA) just wrapped up its 2018 Expo in San Diego earlier in September and according to Forbes contributor Jamie Gold, voice control tops the list of upcoming trends. While most know Amazon’s Alexa as the icon of the voice control suite, other voice systems, including Josh from Josh AI, Control4, and Savant, go beyond Alexa’s capabilities. They can take multiple complex home instructions, such as “dim the lights” and “lower the shades,” and simplify them into one command of the user’s choosing.

“I believe voice activation is just in its infancy as we learn to interact with inanimate objects the same way we do with each other,” observes West Hollywood-based architect Dean Larkin of Dean Larkin Design. He served on a luxury meets technology panel at the 2018 CEDIA Expo.

David VanWert of West Hollywood-based VanWert Technology Design is one of Larkin’s consultants, and one of the two technology guides touring a select group of architectural and interior designers through the CEDIA show floor. “Voice control has grown leaps and bounds in such a short time with companies such as Amazon Alexa and Google Home leading the pack,” he says, pointing out that these mass market leaders are opening the door to the entire voice-controlled home automation category. “More advanced systems such as Josh AI allowing for natural speech control, multiple commands, and proximity sensing open the opportunity to these ‘whole house systems’ to be truly easy to use, something that has not been easily obtainable with traditional home automation systems,” he adds.

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