IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2015 - 25

resources_TooLs

thermostats, but to link my Ubi to the Philips
Hue lightbulbs I have in my home, I had to use
the IFTTT (If This Then That) website. This
acts as a sort of glue between an extensive
range of smart devices and online services.
Support for both Ubi voice commands and
my Hue lightbulbs has already been integrated into IFTTT, so creating a new command was simple: I used the Ubi "trigger"
template to specify that my Ubi should pay
attention to the words "Turn on lights." Then
I used the Hue "action" template to set this
command to turn on all my apartment's lightbulbs. Setting up a command to turn off the
lights was a similar process.
To actually use a command, I first have to
get the Ubi's attention, which I do by saying
"Okay, Ubi!" Then I can say, "Turn on lights," and
a couple of seconds later a voice confirms my
command and the lights turn on. Usually.
Ubi uses Google's voice recognition
system, which is not as good as Apple's. I
sometimes have to repeat a command two
or three times, and sometimes my Ubi gets
confused about the difference between
"turn lights on" and "turn lights off."
There are other rough edges-such as a
clunky online portal-as UCIC rolls out tweaks
and upgrades with some frequency, suggesting that Ubi is still somewhat in beta mode. So
by yoUr CoMManD: You can program Ubi
to respond to custom voice commands, which
why get an Ubi now, instead of waiting for
it can listen to from up to several meters away.
Apple or Amazon to release what are sure to
be polished products in the next year or two?
Because, in order to ensure a no-fuss conBut you don't have to wait: You can try the
$300 Ubi today. Like the Echo, the 10- by sumer experience, those big-name products
10- by 3-centimeter Ubi can obey voice are likely to be pretty tightly nailed down. In
commands to do things like play music or contrast, UCIC is willing to let you get your
send text messages on your behalf. But I hands dirty-for example, you can have an Ubi
already have pretty painless tools for those respond to incoming HTTP requests or send
kinds of things. What I was really interested out its own. This means you have access to
in were the smart-home capabilities: When a vast range of online APIs (application proyou come through the door carrying grocery gram interfaces). The ability to quickly crebags, that's when you really want an alterna- ate your own voice commands is powerful
and eliminates much of the guesswork that
tive to fiddling with a smartphone.
Installing the Ubi was easy: I plugged it can sometimes come with Siri. You can also
into the wall and set up an online account program triggers based on built-in sensors
with its maker, the Unified Computer Intelli- that monitor and log the levels of light, sound,
gence Corp. (UCIC), in Toronto. This account air pressure, humidity, and temperature. You
allows you to configure the computer and could have lights turn a warning red if the bottom drops out of the barometer, for example.
connect it to your home's Wi-Fi router.
The Ubi has built-in support for Smart After all, what's the point in living in a science
Things home-automation devices and Nest fiction world if it isn't any fun? -Stephen CaSS

GIve YouR Home
a "StaR tReK" vIbe
progrAm voice
commAnds into the ubi
wAll computer

mbient computing has been
the stuff of science fiction for decades. On "Star Trek," for example,
the crew of the Enterprise could say "Computer" into the air, followed by a command.
An intelligent system would reply and attempt to obey, whether it was turning on
the lights or executing the self-destruct
sequence. Now-at least when it comes to
the lights-fiction has become fact.
Interest in using voice to control smart
homes has taken off in recent months. In
June of last year, Apple announced HomeKit,
software that will eventually enable users
to command connected devices using the
Siri voice interface. Amazon has begun limited sales of its cylindrical US $200 Amazon
Echo, which can do things like provide
weather reports or play specified music on
voice command. While the Echo doesn't yet
integrate with smart-home devices, I'll eat
my hat if that functionality isn't added sometime in the next 12 to 18 months.

unified computer intelligence corp.

sPecTruM.Ieee.orG

NorTH AMerIcAN

MAr 2015

http://sPecTruM.Ieee.orG

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2015