Is Mycroft open-source voice control support in the cards for Hubitat?

It seems that integration with Mycroft fits right into the Hubitat business line. Basically voice control without the spying and data mining. Not fully local, but much more privacy friendly than the incubents (Amazon/Google).

Mycroft is also available as a fully built unit with software (they are now taking orders for the Mycroft II), or as a free download software you can install on a Pi (Picroft). The open source status should keep them honest, at least enough for me to install one in my home.

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Do you have one?

Why do you assume that? All of the data collected by the Mycroft backend (that does the voice recognition) is completely theirs. Take a look at the privacy policy.
https://mycroft.ai/embed-privacy-policy/

Remember the old adage....if you are getting something for free, you are no longer the customer, you are the product. If they are providing back-end services for free, they are getting paid somewhere else. They aren't hosting the service out of the goodness of their hearts.

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Not yet. They are still taking orders for the next batch, I'm on the list. Contemplating doing the Picroft option though, would likely already be done if I owned a pi.

I guess the difference is, they will have to be a bit more transparent about how they use the data, or be subject to some backlash. Compare that to google and amazon, who don't even make claims to privacy or control. Good luck finding out what they do with their data, or even what they do with their "always listening" sound bytes.

Also, I don't feel I was a "the product" for my Linux distro. That was free, including some hosting for the files. Still includes some free hosting for the updates. I voluntarily send a few bucks every year because I appreciate the service. Don't see how this could not be the same.

Worst case, they sell out in a few years to big data mining. By then, there will probably be enough data out there to run a local server with decent voice recognition. I like my odds for a future fully local voice control a lot better than with the current players.

Why would they have to be more transparent?

If the people who develop the distro are being compensated in any way for developing it, then you absolutely are. Because the more people that use it, the more they get paid. The customers are the ones who pay them.

None of this has any bearing on whether it would be a good use of the Hubiatat's team to develop an integration for this incredibly rare device, which you don't even own. You really think that this would be a better use of the teams time than what they are doing now? It's not like they're sitting around doing nothing.

You seem to want to gloss over the thousands of open-source software projects that currently exist. And no, I don't consider myself a "product" or mark because they allow voluntary contributions. Because, you know, they are voluntary.

Open source means more people (some with no incentive for company profit) get to go over the code and scrutinize it for any lines /sub-routines that do not follow the original intent. If you don't see how that encourages more transparency than closed code, I can't help you.

"Local, fast, reliable, private"

That's the slogan on the website.

Not sure what the hubitat devs are working on now (I'm sure they are busy doing good work), but Mycroft integration would likely would likely help with the first (Mycroft currently has a roadmap for a fully local server) and last words in the slogan on the website's first page. Two out of four ain't bad.

Then they aren't being compensated. I said,

You can't get mad when you don't read the whole sentence.

Yeah, the code on the device. Not in their backend, which is where the data comes from. Your google home speaker isn't collecting data on your either....it's the google cloud that's doing that. Your speaker has very little use for data on you. The cloud on the other hand, does.

And a slogan is a legally binding contract? Come on....

For the record I do think the voluntary contributions is a form of compensation for their work. May be a misunderstanding of the meaning on my part. So I'm not mad at all. I objected to the"I'm the product" part, mostly. Because it had a "unaware victim" tinge that I felt did not apply here.

I agree with your thoughts on device code vs cloud content. Except if you know where the data is going, you have more control over what you want to send, when and where.

I certainly don't think a slogan is legally binding. You asked why I thought this integration would be a good use of the devs time. I just answered the question. I know the slogan resonated with me, and was a big part of why I bought the device. I'm guessing I'm not the only one.

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Welcome to the hubitat community, @mangling. I think this sounds like a potentially worthwhile use of hubitat development resources. There are plenty of users that could be interested in an alternative to amazon and google for a voice assistant.

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I too would like to see this. I've ordered one of their Mark IIs and if they were supported by Hubitat, I'd build out their RPi version.

As for privacy, a local STT piece is on their roadmap. At that point, it works totally off-line. No other voice assistant I know of is talking about that.

I have no idea if it's a good use of the Hubitat team's time. That's not for me or anyone other than the team to say. But I'm adding my voice to the call for support if it's possible.

Cheers! :slight_smile:
=C=

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Count me in too for seeing this developed. But I don't see any reason to push for supporting development for a product (referring to the Mark II) that can't be purchased yet... Pre-orders don't count. While I believe they'll eventually get there, their current schedule has the Mark II pushed out to next year.

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+1 for mycroft support. Trying to get past the hard limits of google, amazon to build a fully configurable smart home. Open source seems like it is the way forward to these goals and mycroft/hubitat is currently the best option.

Adding another voice here - I've run a "test" of Mycroft and it seems to work well, integration with Hubitat would be amazing!

+1 for Mycroft integration as a viable alternative and overall good contribution to open-source projects.

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I have Picroft working with Home Assistant. Is there some way to forward/tunnel HE notifications through a virtual speech device to hit HA in a way where it uses the default notify mechanism?

They've just started taking pre-orders for their display device.

Thanks for the notice!

As someone who pre-ordered many, many months ago, I appreciate the reminder .... and I'm surprised that Mycroft didn't contact me directly.

Very interesting. The demo video has the Mycroft II running Home Assistant.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvGmGBApVNc

Wonder if the Hubitat would fit in the casing. Worst case it could be lodged in a 3D printed "piggy back" case at the back of the Mycroft unit. Lots of functionality, in a compact package.

Edit: Was a bit surprised to see it only has 2Gb of RAM. Maybe it's enough?