Havells brings AI voice control to appliances

Havells has introduced an AI-powered voice control feature to its Havells One app, enabling users to operate connected appliances with natural speech in English and seven Indian languages. This capability, developed by Havells’ Center for Research & Innovation, is accessible to the app's 2.67 million users. The feature uses ElevenLabs' speech-to-text and text-to-speech models to interpret user intent, allowing for the coordination of multiple devices like air conditioners, fans, lights, and air purifiers through a single command.

Unlike previous voice control that required specific commands for each appliance, this new system can handle code-mixed speech, clarify ambiguous commands, and explain device error codes in simple terms. Currently operational across a variety of Havells products, including fans, air purifiers, water purifiers, and Lloyd air conditioners, the system is designed for everyday use, eliminating the need for users to remember specific commands.

The development process involved rigorous evaluation of AI models for accuracy, multilingual support, latency, and voice synthesis, with ElevenLabs' Forward Deployed Engineering team contributing to voice quality and language pronunciation. Havells aims to expand this feature to more languages and add more appliances, while also planning to offer personalized experiences for individual household members and extend the voice interface to include product FAQs, troubleshooting, and scheduling.