DENVER, Colorado, April 11, 2019 – Josh.ai continues to expand the impact of artificial intelligence in the home by introducing a new AV Room feature for control systems. Customers can now route AV sources through Crestron and Control4 using natural voice commands, all without requiring the integrator to pre-program scenes or macros. This announcement includes two major enhancements to Josh.ai’s distributed AV offering. For Crestron projects, Josh.ai is releasing a Crestron AV Room Module, which is available as an update to the Josh.ai SIMPL Crestron Module. And for Control4 customers, Josh.ai is pleased to announce the new Control4 AV Room Driver, available as an update to the Josh.ai Control4 driver.
Once connected to the network and an AV Room is programmed, Josh.ai will automatically populate the AV sources accessible in each room of the home. This hardware agnostic approach allows Josh.ai to seamlessly support any system design — no matter the complexity. As long as Crestron or Control4 is the routing backbone, Josh.ai will be able to communicate from endpoint to endpoint. The interface has been designed with dealer feedback and guidance, allowing dealers to set up complicated distributed AV workflows accurately and efficiently, without re-doing the work they originally put into programming their control system.
For example, homeowners can walk into their theater and say, “OK Josh, watch season 3 episode 2 of Mad Men.” Josh.ai understands the request is coming from the theater, utilizes a knowledge graph to find that Mad Men is on Netflix, determines which AV source can provide that content, informs Crestron or Control4 what must be done, and — like magic — Mad Men starts playing!
With this update, custom installers have the ability to offer the power of natural voice control as an interface for their Crestron and Control4 clients who want to activate their favorite channels or sources in every room of their home. In addition to the convenience of voice automation, users will be comforted by Josh.ai’s privacy-focused approach to home control. Clients benefit from the peace of mind that Josh.ai is committed to providing an elegant experience without
selling or leveraging customer data for marketing purposes.
“We’re excited to partner with two of the most prominent control systems in our industry to offer advanced voice control over distributed content,” said Alex Capecelatro, CEO of Josh.ai. “This is a critical feature for our luxury clients who want the power of distributed systems, with the simplicity of being able to ask for any music or video content in a room and have it play instantly. We, along with our mutual integrator partners, are ecstatic that we’re integrating as closely as we can to pair the power of these control systems with the user experience of Josh. It is one of the biggest features that our integrators have requested, and is something that further separates us from the mass market solutions. We’re happy to be able to deliver on this vision.”
“This is another exciting development in the close partnership between Crestron and Josh, we are committed to working closely on how voice can enhance the lifestyles of our clients and Josh is at the forefront of this evolution” Michael Short, Global Residential Marketing Manager, Crestron.
David Welles, Director of Audio Visual Design Group: “This new feature allowing users to be able to speak naturally and play music, or video, in the room that they want is a game changer for our systems. We struggle for simplicity in the integration world – this new feature that Josh.ai provides makes our clients’ lives easier. Whenever that song pops into your head you now have the ability to say “Ok Josh, play Bruce Springsteen Born to Run in the kitchen,” and it just works. The future is here now!”