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  • Showing only topics with the tag "smart devices". Back to normal view
    1. Experiences using a local voice assistant with LLM with HomeAssistant?

      Has anyone out there hooked HomeAssistant up to a local LLM? I'm very tempted: Alexa integrations fail often. HomeAssistant integrations tend to be rock solid. Alexa is rule/pattern matching...

      Has anyone out there hooked HomeAssistant up to a local LLM? I'm very tempted:

      • Alexa integrations fail often. HomeAssistant integrations tend to be rock solid.
      • Alexa is rule/pattern matching based. LLMs can understand natural language fairly well. The "magical incantations" required by Alexa are awkward.

      Other than the software, the device side seems challenging. There are $50 fully-baked POP devices. I'm less sure on the DIY front.

      Also, I desperately want my house to speak to me in the voice of the NCC-1701D computer. I've read enough now to know this should be achievable with a modicum of effort via OSS voice cloning tools or training a new model (same difference except "voice cloning" seems to often refer to doing this without training a whole new model?).

      Thoughts? Experiences?

      I've seen several pages that have led me to conclude this is tenable:

      https://github.com/myshell-ai/OpenVoice

      https://github.com/domesticatedviking/TextyMcSpeechy

      https://github.com/mezbaul-h/june

      https://www.home-assistant.io/voice_control/voice_remote_local_assistant/

      https://heywillow.io/hardware/#esp32-s3-box-lite

      14 votes
    2. How do you turn a smart TV into a dumb TV?

      I've been lamenting the death of the dumb TV for years now, but I'm finally in the market for a new set and trying to plan my next purchase carefully. I've come to grips with the fact that any...

      I've been lamenting the death of the dumb TV for years now, but I'm finally in the market for a new set and trying to plan my next purchase carefully.

      I've come to grips with the fact that any late-model TV I buy is going to feature some or all of the following:

      • Internet connectivity
      • Slow, janky menu screens with awful UIs
      • Pre-installed apps (all of which I consider bloatware)
      • Ads incorporated into the built-in menus or overlaid on my content
      • Alexa / Google Home integration
      • Automatic content recognition and/or other data collection techniques
      • Microphones or cameras, purportedly for voice/gesture control

      My goal is to take a stock smart TV and completely neuter all of the above, resulting in an otherwise fully functional dumb TV. All of my content will be delivered over HDMI from external devices.

      As I understand it, basically all modern TVs are running one of five operating systems: Android TV, webOS, Tizen, Roku TV, or SmartCast. Not knowing anything about these platforms, where should I begin? Which are most susceptible to rooting? Are there any good custom ROMs I could install that would achieve what I'm looking for? Surely others have asked these same questions before me, but I can't find the answers online.

      Yes, this is a companion post to my other home theater question earlier today.

      37 votes