IUVO

‘IUVO’ Latin definition: To help, aid, assist / to please.

IUVO is a voice activated home automation system designed to make your life easier and more convenient. IUVO can control home appliances, your entertainment system and home security.

IUVO is solely voice controlled meaning she is completely hands-free. Her name acts as a trigger word activating the ‘listening mode’, the user can then ask IUVO to complete a task like turning the kettle on or changing the channel on the television.

IUVO will know when someone has entered and left a room and will act accordingly, for example automatically turning the lights on or simply saying “hello!”. IUVO will talk to you and ask after you, for example ask you how your day was or ask if you would like her assistance.

From the offset I knew that I wanted IUVO to be a head and to have a face, it makes sense to be a device that you talk to and a device that talks back to you should have a face, and this would encourage interaction. Science fiction was a big inspiration for me during this project, we have came to expect robots to have human qualities and characteristics because of science fiction. A home automated future has been explored a staple in science fiction, it has been a prediction for a long time that we would be living like the ‘Jetsons’ yet we are not, my device is a glimpse at a possible direction home automation could take.