Interconnected home devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing kitchen and bathroom devices lack integrated communication and data sharing capabilities, limiting their ability to provide personalized and coordinated services based on user data and preferences.
Innovation Solution
A system of intelligent kitchen and bathroom devices connected through a home hub communication device, allowing for the exchange of sensor data and voice commands to provide customized services, including voice-controlled operation and data-driven settings adjustments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If kitchen and bathroom devices are connected through a home hub with data sharing capabilities, then personalized and coordinated services are improved, but device complexity and network infrastructure requirements worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a home hub as an intermediary device that centralizes communication and data processing. The hub receives sensor data from multiple appliances, processes it centrally, and coordinates responses, thereby enabling personalized services without requiring complex peer-to-peer communication between each device pair.
Solution Approach 2:
The home hub serves multiple functions: it acts as a communication router, data processing center, user profile manager, and coordination controller for various appliances. This multi-functionality consolidates what would otherwise require distributed complexity across individual devices into a single universal platform.
2Ease of operation
If sensor data is collected and processed to provide personalized functions, then service quality is improved, but data processing requirements and system resource consumption worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-processes sensor data at the home hub before distributing it to relevant appliances, and maintains user profiles in advance. This preliminary processing reduces the computational burden on individual appliances during runtime, lowering their energy consumption while still enabling personalized functions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts data processing responsibilities from individual appliances and centralizes them at the home hub. By taking out the heavy lifting of data analysis and profile management from resource-constrained appliances, the system reduces overall energy consumption while maintaining personalized service capabilities.
3Ease of operation
If voice commands and sensor data are integrated for device control, then user interaction quality is improved, but processing complexity and response time requirements worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The home hub continuously monitors sensor data from appliances and maintains an active listening state for voice commands. This continuous readiness eliminates startup delays and enables immediate response to user inputs, thereby improving response time while integrating multiple interaction modalities.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements real-time feedback loops where sensor data and voice commands are processed continuously, and appliance states are updated and communicated back to users immediately. This feedback mechanism ensures rapid response times by keeping the system in a constant state of readiness to adjust based on current conditions.
Data Source
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AI summary
A voice controlled device comprising: a plurality of microphones configured to receive voice inputs from one or more users for operation of the voice controlled device; a communication interface configured to receive sensor data from an external device, the sensor data describing an environment of the voice controlled device; and a controller configured to operate a first subset of the plurality of microphones in response to first sensor data and a second subset of the plurality of microphones in response to second sensor data.