Google shows Assistant Connect to connect simple devices with Assistant

Google introduced Assistant Connect at the CES trade show. This is a platform that makes it easy and cheap to integrate devices with Google’s own digital voice assistant.

For this, Google uses existing smart home devices, with the idea that devices with Assistant Connect will become a kind of extension of, for example, the Google Home. The data is sent to the Google Home, so that the data processing and calculations can be handled by Google’s smart speaker. As a result, the Assistant Connect devices themselves do not need special chips, which means that inexpensive, simple devices can also be integrated with Assistant.

On the CES exhibition floor, Google showed how this platform works, by means of an e-ink screen and a simple separate button in a cardboard housing, with which a desired command can be sent to Assistant. For example, the e-ink screen can display the weather forecast, calendar events or travel data. In addition, the screen contains a button, which functions just like the separate button and can be pressed for a variety of commands.

For now, this ecosystem of Google, which is intended to further spread Assistant integration, doesn’t seem as advanced as Amazon’s efforts. Amazon, for example, has small chips and a fully developed software ecosystem, which designers can easily deploy in their devices. The Echo wall clock is an example of this, which contains some smart features, but must be paired with an Echo speaker. Google says it will announce more about Assistant Connect later this year, likely at its developer conference I/O.