Master of the House From: Popular Science - 11/2013 - page 13 By: Erin Brodwin A hub for whole-home voice control In 1968, Arthus C. Clarke created HAL 9000, the sentient computer in his Space Odessey series. Now, more than 60 years later, the compnay Ivee has launched something similar, albeit less vilainous. The Sleek draws individual smart-home devices into a single hub and adds artificial intelligence so that users gain voice control over them all. In other words, its HAL for your home. Once the Sleek is on the local Wi-Fi, users add devices through a Web dashboard. When the Sleek hears a command, it send the audio to the WATSON language-processing server, which converts the signal to text. The Sleek scans for keywords to determine its action. (If it hears "make it warmer in here", it gets that "warmer" and "here" mean ticking up the thermostat.) The Sleek is currently compatible with only a handful of devices, but engineers are updating its software all the time, so it's getting smarter and moe versatile with each passing month. Ivee Sleek Operating range: 10 to 15 feet Understood commands: Unlimited Price: $230 Links: Ivee http://www.helloivee.com/ Sleek (with video 1:16) http://www.helloivee.com/sleek-black.html MasterVoice Butler in a Box (1987) http://www.cepro.com/photos/10_technologies_way_ahead_of_their_time/1/K5