Ivee Voice, a virtual assistant for your home

In Iron Man movie, Tony Stark often talks with Jarvis, an artificial intelligence (AI) which acts as a virtual assistant that's regulating almost all devices functions in his house. In the real life, perhaps the sophisticated AI just like Jarvis hasn't existed, but a virtual assistant which works based on voice commands like Siri or Cortana has been created.

Voice command is a revolutionary innovation in the interface field that can compete with multitouch technology. Seeing the benefits that are brought by the voice command technology; a US-based startup wants to bring a virtual assistant that's designed specifically for the house. Simply put, the Siri, Google Now, or Cortana is your assistant when you are doing activities outside the house; meanwhile the device named Ivee Voice is a virtual assistant when you are at home.

Ivee Voice can control smart home devices such as Philips Hue bulbs or Nest Thermostat, and even book Uber private taxi easily. Of course, all of them are relying on the voice commands from you, which so far can only be done in English.

Ivee Voice understands about your privacy. It will listen to instructions after you say "Okay Ivee" and the blue LED will light up. Interestingly, Ivee Voice can understand your instructions only by one word or phrase.

So for example if you say, "Okay Ivee, movie time," instantly Ivee will send an instruction to several devices at once: the Philips Hue bulbs will dim, the electronic blinds will close, AC will be colder, and of course the TV and home theater set will turn on. You don't need to say the perfect words to make Ivee Voice can understand your point; say "good night" then Ivee will turn off the lights in the room.

Ivee Voice looks like an inverted golf tee. Its height is less than 13 cm, and its diameter is only about 7.6 cm. Inside this device there are a pair of omnidirectional microphones to capture sound from all angles. To reach all corners of the house, you can put some Ivee Voice devices simultaneously in different rooms; all of them will be connected via Wi-Fi networks.

To set up what can be done by Ivee Voice, you need to download the companion application first. From there you can connect a variety of devices and services with Ivee, for example, your Uber account, complete with the booking history.

Through the crowdfunding site Indiegogo, Ivee Voice is offered for $ 99 per unit - not including the shipping fee.