Newscenter Exclusive | Move Over, Alexa! Meet AI Butler Josh Micro

Josh.ai, a voice-activated home automation system provider, today announced the launch of its new product Josh Micro. Josh Micro  is a new hardware product that runs the Josh.ai software on a far-field microphone for hands-free voice control. The product launch comes on the heels of the Denver-based startup’s $11 million fundraising in July.

Josh Micro is a standalone home processor that allows homeowners to intuitively control and customize their dwellings.

Josh Micro combines the functionality of a control system and a far-field microphone in a single elegant package. Each Josh Micro ships preloaded with the Josh automation software, instantly connecting to a home’s network and automatically discovering connected devices.

Credit: Josh.ai

Although Josh Micro can use a wake word to start listening, such as “Hey Josh,” it can also start listening by a user’s tap on  a built-in motion sensor or a simple swipe of the surface. The product has built-in motion, touch, temperature, humidity and ambient light sensors that can be used for scene triggers and automation. These powerful sensors provide more capacity for control and customization in home automation.

Alex Capecelatro, CEO of Josh.ai

The company says that Josh Micro is the first hardware product capable of accepting compound commands — a string of commands issued simultaneously, creating ad-hoc sequences on the fly. A user could say, for example, “Open the shades, dim the lights, stop the music, and watch Breaking Bad.”

Josh integrates with industry-leading hardware manufacturers including Crestron, Control4, Lutron, Sonos, Autonomic, Nest, Chamberlain, Aprilaire, Sony, and others.

“While designing Josh Micro, we thought a lot about the end-user experience and how best to facilitate a powerful home environment,” said CEO Alex Capecelatro. “Each Josh Micro is a standalone home processor that allows homeowners to intuitively control and customize their dwellings. With a series of sensors, far-field microphones, and touch capacitive surfaces, Josh Micro aims to enable home interaction in its purest form.”

Josh Micro will debut at CEDIA 2017, one of the leading home technology industry conferences, which will be held next week in San Diego.