HAL Voice Control - Overview page

HAL will operate appliances, too, like coffee makers and popcorn poppers. Tell HAL to brew the coffee every morning at 7am. Even more impressive is HAL's power to link numerous actions together. In addition to dimming the family room lights when you say, "It's time for a movie," you could also have HAL begin popping the popcorn.

 

HAL gives you the power to control the climate in your house from anywhere in the home - or anywhere in the world - by voice. Once you install a HAL-compatible communicating thermostat, you can call your home and ask HAL, "What is the temperature in the house?", or you may ask, "What is the thermostat setting?" Lots of people have programmable thermostats. But what if your schedule changes after the thermostat is programmed? Most programmable thermostats can only be programmed when you're at home. With HAL, if you decide to extend your vacation by a couple of days, you can simply call your house and tell HAL to set the thermostat accordingly. Then call from the airport on the way home and tell HAL to warm/cool the house to the temperature you desire.

 

Home theatres are better than ever before. But they're also more complicated to operate. HAL can make it easy! HAL uses infrared to generate the same signals that come from the remote control devices that the manufacturer sends with your audio/video equipment. Simply install a HAL-compatible infrared controller and HAL becomes a universal remote control that you can operate with your voice. Simply tell HAL to, "Turn on the TV."

The real power of HAL home theatre control is the ability to make many things happen with a single voice command. We all know how difficult it can be to coordinate all the pieces of the home theatre for the different ways you want to use it. Sometimes, you just want to watch the TV. Other times, you just want to listen to music. On other occasions, you want to watch a movie. The movie requires the TV to be tuned to the correct channel so it can receive the signal from the VCR or the DVD. The stereo tuner has to be turned on and in the right mode to generate surround sound for movie viewing. Finally, the VCR or DVD must be powered up and ordered to play. Some people keep index cards to remember all the steps. With HAL, you can create a single voice command - one of your own choosing - something like, "Prepare the family room for a video." With that phrase, HAL can be programmed to turn the TV on and switch it to the right channel to receive the video signal from the VCR or DVD, the stereo will be turned on and correctly configured for theatre sound, the DVD or VCR will be turned on set to play, and finally, the room lights will be dimmed down as the movie begins. Your only responsibility is to put the tape or DVD in the machine. HAL makes great home theatre technology easy-to-use - and that's what makes the HAL home control system great!

 

HAL gives you greater control of your home security system. With a HAL-compatible security panel, you can arm and disarm your system by voice. If your system is violated, you can tell HAL to call you on your cell phone or at the office or at any number you designate. You may want HAL to call your neighbour if you are away on vacation. If your system detects smoke or fire in your house during evening hours, you can tell HAL to turn on all the lights in the house and to play loud music in order to wake up sleeping residents. This is all possible because HAL integrates all the systems in the house on the PC - when the security system is triggered, other systems can be told to respond. With HAL, you are limited only by your imagination.