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Comment by voidUpdate | Hacker News Reader

Do people like talking to voice assistants? I've used one occasionally (mostly for timers when I'm cooking), but most of the time it would be faster for me to just do it myself, and feels much less awkward than talking to empty air, asking it to do things for me. It might be because I just really don't like making more noise than I have to

(Yes, I appreciate that some people may be disabled in such a way that it makes sense to use voice assistants, eg motor problems)

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I consider each time I need to pull out my phone and "do it myself" to be a failure of my smart home system.

If a light cannot be automatically on when I need it (like a motion sensor) or controlled with a dedicated button within arms reach (like a remote on my desk) then the third best option is one that lets me control it without interrupting what I'm doing, moving from where I am, using my hands, or possessing anything (a voice assistant).

Do you not just turn the light on when you go in a room, and turn it off again when you go out? All the rooms in my flat have switches next to the door

My lights adjust their brightness and color spectrum automatically throughout the day while also understanding the time of year and sun position. This alone is next level. All are voice/tablet controlled. When I start a movie at night, lights will adjust automatically in my open floor plan first level. All of this operates without me ever having to give any mental energy beyond the initial setup.

This is not just flip a switch territory.

How the hell are you managing that. On a simple micro level I can figure it out, but as a whole over the entire house? o.0

Home Assistant with adaptive lighting.

https://github.com/basnijholt/adaptive-lighting

Oh cool, thanks.

Many homes have a bunch of lights with their own switches, like lamps. Also there are rooms with multiple entrances, like a living room with a bedroom on the other side from the from the front door entrance, which would involve walking to the side of the room with the switch then walking back through a dark room after you turn it off. Being able to just get into bed and say "Alexa, turn off all of the lights" is way more convenient than checking 14 light switches around my home.

Yes, that would be a button within arms reach, something I explicitly prefer over the voice assistant. I use them frequently.

I don't have just one light per room though, some spaces like my workshop or living room have a lot of lighting options, and flitting around the room flipping a bunch of switches is clumsy and unnecessary. The preference is always towards automation (e.g. when I play a movie in Jellyfin, the lights dim) but there are situations where I just need to ask for the workbench light.

The Sun moves around, while I am in a room. It might be high up when I enter a room, but after a while there may be clouds or it may have set.

When watching a movie one may dimthe light. Once finished one may need more lights.

When going to bed I may want to switch all lights off. When getting up it may need some extra light.

A switch on the door is nice. More switches is better. Being able to control from anywhere may be even nicer.

So I grab my phone, open the homeassistant app, and mess with the settings on my light, or use homeassistant through my browser on my desktop. No yelling at a computer needed

I think you missed the top post "If I have to pull my phone out = failure" part.

Do you have a wife / kids? If so how do you "teach" them this?

My point being that it might be a failure to you but not them, some people don't want it.

This is my struggle, how to get the automation to do what I want without affecting everyone else equally. (And vise versa)

I use it frequently for reminders and calendar events when not at a computer, as voice is faster than the mobile interface (with so many screens) for setting something up

I guess most of my use is whilst driving, to start/stop music or audiobooks, change navigation etc. Although changing navigation through Siri is somewhat painful as it often gets my intended destination wrong lol.

I prefer voice strongly. I don't want to stop what i am doing, find a device, open the app, wait for it refresh, navigate and click to get Milk on a list. Sure you can bring this down a few steps, but all of which still require me to move, have a hand and eye free.

I love it for lists- like my hands are full making something in the kitchen and I can just tell it to add things to my grocery list as soon as I notice I'm out of something.

I started designing and building a voice assistant for myself and then realized that the only time I'd find it useful would be during cooking to set timers. But a loud extractor fan would be running making the voice recognition very difficult.

An extractor fan is the kind of consistent noise that good signal processing and voice recognition ought to be able to strip out, especially if using a dispersed mic array. Even if your voice is much quieter (to your human ears) than the fan. It's a channel separation problem.

I pretty much only use them for timers and weather, and the occasional lookup for quick random info. And this is all only if I don’t have a phone handy or eg the toddler is going to timeout and I need to set his timer in the midst of him having a meltdown about it.

It’s why I haven’t and won’t enable Gemini, and I’ll likely chuck my nest minis once I’m forced to have an LLM-based experience. Hopefully they’ll be able to at least function as dumb Bluetooth speakers still but I’m not holding out hope on that end

Not voice assistants but for anything that falls into the body of text category (emails, letters, documentaton) I just use Dragon NaturallySpeaking, mainly to give myself an RSI break from typing.

A Radiologist friend of mine convinced me to give it a try, apparently radiology reports are dictated in most places nowadays

I think the main frustration is often speed and precision but with modern dictation software it is pretty flawless.

Voice assistants can be great if you have kids. Sometimes your hands are full in more way than one.

Same for different scenarios when you don't want to use your hands (say you are replanting a flower or something).

I would, if they worked even 90%.

I mostly set timers because it’s one of the few things that always works.

I don't. I pretty much don't like talking in general, especially if I'm alone. Accordingly, no voice assistants; I don't think I've ever triggered one except accidentally.

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