Lithuanian-speaking voice system for smart home
Smart technologies are not new to Lithuanian homes, but controlling all of them by voice and in Lithuanian is a long-awaited achievement that promises to change the market. Such is the Lithuanian-speaking system developed by the intelligent systems manufacturer JUNG together with its partner AAI Labs.
"English speakers have been communicating with devices for more than a decade but the archaic Lithuanian language has been a challenge. We are lucky that together with the AAI Labs team we have achieved such results — the voice system installed in our showroom today understands about 100 Lithuanian commands and executes them easily" says Vaidotas Bijunas, Product Manager at JUNG Vilnius.
The unique system is currently named ‘Viktorija’. It is one of the components of the JUNG KNX smart home management system and can effortlessly understand and switch on and off the TV when asked, adjust the lighting in the house, open and close curtains and blinds, take care of the desired home temperature or security parameters. Voice control is not only used for individual functions, where the system would have to be asked to switch off each light bulb individually, but also for pre-programmed complex commands/scripts. For example, you can say "Viktorija, labas rytas" (Viktorija, good morning — in Lithuanian) and the system will turn on the lights, open the blinds, start making coffee and turn on your favourite TV show.
AAI Labs’ — the creators’ of the Victoria’s speech recognition engine — CEO Aistis Raudys says that the use of such a system is not limited to smart homes. It can also be valuable in offices, various institutions such as hospitals, kindergartens, etc. For people with disabilities, the system is of significant help, as it does not require switches to operate the system — voice commands are sufficient.
"Voice-controlled systems have a wide range of possibilities, which is why we want to make ‘Viktorija’ work to the maximum, but it is up to the user to decide how much to use it in the home," says Mr. Raudys, pointing out that the system, which is still in the testing phase, is not yet on sale.
Comparing it to other smart and voice-controlled technology solutions that are well recognised on the market, Mr. Raudys says that ‘Viktorija’ does not yet have the status of an assistant like Siri, Alexa or Google Home, but it is able to operate without the internet.
"Our Viktorija works much faster than the players in the market who are directly dependent on internet connectivity. And it doesn't transmit any information beyond your home, so it protects confidentiality. While an internet-free system has some limitations, such as being able to call you a taxi, it will always be faithful to your home services," the developer says.
Partly reproduced from (in Lithuanian): https://www.vz.lt/inovacijos/2021/10/20/tarp-nauju-protingu-namu-pasiekimu--ir-lietuviskai-suprantanti-balso-sistema#ixzz7pYikZ04I