Smart lighting: LED light bulbs controlled by voice

Soso LED Network News: Nanoleaf Smarter Kit uses Zigbee protocol to wirelessly control 50 compatible LED bulbs within a range of 50 meters.

Networked LED light bulbs are more energy efficient than ordinary light bulbs and have better remote control effects. As adjusting lighting on and off via phone apps becomes mainstream, some companies are taking the next step toward an even more advanced future. The Nanoleaf Smarter Kit is designed to control smart light bulbs by sending voice commands to Siri.

Maybe it won’t take long for smart home lighting to develop into “voice controlled smart home lighting”. Users adjust Nest smart thermostats through voice commands from Google Now; Amazon Echo's Alexa can handle many voice tasks; Insteon's smart home systems communicate with each other through Microsoft's Cortana; Philips has upgraded its Hue Bridge to work with Siri through Apple's HomeKit platform.

Although Nanoleaf's Smarter Kit is not the first to have voice-controlled LED light bulbs, its unique light bulb can solve the problem of high temperatures and is one of the most energy-efficient light bulbs. Nanoleaf On (formerly NanoLight) recently won the international SEAD Global Efficiency Medal. The Smarter Kit includes Nanoleaf's new Smart Ivy bulb, which is equivalent to a 60-watt incandescent light bulb and uses even less energy than the Nanoleaf One.

The core of the Nanoleaf Smarter Kit is the dodecahedral Nanoleaf Smart Hub, which uses the Zigbee protocol to communicate with 50 light bulbs within a 164-foot (50-meter) range. The Nanoleaf Smart Hub can connect to the local wireless network in order to receive explanatory voice instructions from Siri (Android support Google Now will be available as a free software update for the control center in early 2016) before sending information to a certain light bulb/s. Users who are not in the mood to use their voice can adjust the lighting through Nanoleaf's mobile app.

Users can name LED bulbs, create rooms and scenes, and assign bulbs to rooms through the Nanoleaf smart application. Once installed, Siri will be able to understand commands such as "turn the bedroom lights on/off" and "dim the lights in the living room by 35%". You can set and name rooms and scenes as needed, and tell Siri "movie time" so that you can turn off multiple lights and dim several lights at the same time, creating an excellent movie viewing experience.