Google Assistant is set for a significant upgrade on Nest smart speakers and displays, while Nest cameras will soon offer enhanced capabilities, as Google Home receives a substantial boost from AI advancements.
While flashy chatbots often steal the spotlight, generative AI has the potential to make smart home technology simpler and more user-friendly. Amazon has already announced plans to enhance Alexa, and now Google is following suit with promises of a more intelligent and useful Google Assistant.
Ahead of its fall hardware event, Google has unveiled three new AI-driven features powered by its Gemini intelligence for the Google Home platform. These include a new camera intelligence feature that provides detailed captions for video footage from Nest cameras, a natural language input for setting up Google Home routines, and an upgraded Google Assistant for Nest devices with a new voice.
Most of these features, apart from the new voice, will be available through Google’s Nest Aware subscription, which starts at $8 per month or $80 per year. Initially, these features will be accessible through Google’s Public Preview beta program to a select group of Nest Aware subscribers, with broader availability expected next year.
This marks just the beginning of Google’s efforts to enhance its smart home platform, according to Anish Kattukaran, Google Home’s head of product. He described this as setting the stage for a new era in Google Home.
Existing Google Home users, who have been grappling with outdated smart displays and feature cancellations, will likely welcome these updates. The recent introduction of the Google TV Streamer 4K and a new Nest Learning Thermostat, combined with the promise of a more capable Google Assistant, signals positive changes for Google’s ecosystem.
Google Assistant’s future appears secure. Rather than implementing Gemini directly on Nest devices, Google is integrating Gemini’s intelligence behind the scenes. “Gemini is a collection of models, and we’re fine-tuning it for aspects of Google Home,” Kattukaran explains.
Enhanced Security Camera Alerts
With Gemini intelligence, Nest cameras will now offer enhanced understanding of their environment, providing detailed descriptions of what they see and hear. Instead of merely receiving alerts for detected movements, users will get comprehensive descriptions of camera footage. The system will improve over time by learning from user data in the cloud, providing better context for home automation. For example, if a camera detects a dog digging in the garden, it could trigger an automation to turn on the sprinklers.
A new text search option in the Google Home activity tab will allow users to search footage by text, making it easier to locate specific events, like finding out when a cat last went outside.
Simplified Home Automation
The new “Help me create” feature in the Google Home app enables users to describe desired actions, such as “lock the doors and turn off the lights at bedtime,” and automatically creates a routine based on this input. While this feature is only available through text or speech input in the Home app (not through Nest speakers), it will support existing capabilities of the Google Home app, including access to any connected devices, such as Matter devices. Though less sophisticated than Google’s script editor, it aims to simplify automation creation.
Advancements in Google Assistant
In addition to improved automation and camera features, Google Assistant will see upgrades to its core functions on all current Nest smart speakers and displays. The assistant will also gain new voices with varied styles, tones, and accents. A demo of the new voice showcased a more natural and conversational tone.
The enhanced Google Assistant will be capable of maintaining conversational context and adapting to user needs over time. Kattukaran emphasizes that these improvements are designed to provide a genuinely helpful digital assistant, building on advancements in language models and AI.
As Google, Amazon, and Apple race towards creating context-aware, intelligent home assistants, the future of smart home technology promises to be both exciting and transformative.