A device includes at least one microphone to receive audio; a processor to process a signal representation of the audio to recognize speech and reduce acoustic echoes detected in the signal representation; at least one speaker mounted in the housing and oriented to output sound away from the microphone; a gateway coupled to the processor to communicate with home appliances, the gateway communicating with a plurality of home area network (HAN) protocols including Zigbee (IEEE 802.15.4), Bluetooth (IEEE 802.15.1) and Z-Wave, the gateway translating HAN data from one protocol to another and providing interoperability among appliances; and one or more home appliances having a security level requiring additional check prior to granting access by requiring video, speaker voice, or mobile device authentication.
Read full abstract