ProKNX has launched a world-first offline multilingual voice-controlled system for smart homes. It performs all the actions of familiar home automation assistants without compromising the privacy of the user.
The new table-top smart speaker, available in English, German, and French, is easily adapted for use in new or existing smart homes via either an affordable IKEA smart-home Trådfri hub or through a KNX Home Automation system. The ProKNX plug-and-play smart speaker operates using a local Wi-Fi connection, enabling users to use natural voice commands to control lights, blinds, heating, Sonos speakers, and smart televisions, without recording or storing data from the user.
The smart speaker from ProKNX functions using Snips (now Sonos), an AI voice platform for connected devices that provides private-by-design voice technology. Snips facilitates voice control by using machine learning and “Natural Language Understanding” to comprehend and respond to commands said in thousands of different ways. All the possible phrases the assistant needs to understand are stored on the device itself. The smart speaker also can be trained to recognize new words. This feature allows it to be completely customisable, depending on the language and word preferences of the individual consumer. As a result, the end-user has almost no learning arc to be able to use the device successfully.
Thanks to this unique technology, the smart speaker from ProKNX is capable of analyzing and performing functions locally on-device. This independence from the Internet allows seamless control of smart appliances while working completely offline, with no need for any data recording or storage.
“We saw an urgent need to develop a solution to support a user’s right to enjoy the comfort of smart home technology without the negative aspects of owning a home automation device, such as obligatory data recording, and the need for connection to the cloud,” said Christian Kiefel, CEO of ProKNX. “A smart speaker that runs your home must function faultlessly, even in areas of poor connectivity.”
The smart speaker has won an award for two years running at the prestigious Smarthome Germany annual conference, in 2020 and this year in 2021, in the category of Best Smart-Home Product of the year. ProKNX has now made their unique smart speaker system available to companies looking to expand into the rapidly growing smart-home market but don’t have this advanced technology available.
CTO Jens Kastensson stated, “The general population is becoming more aware of their right to privacy, yet want to enjoy the benefits of an intelligent home. We see that the interest in voice-controlled smart speakers is increasing exponentially. This is the perfect moment for innovative automation companies to accelerate their entry into this important market by leveraging a manufacturing partnership with ProKNX. We have the technology of the future for the buildings of today.”
