Vognition, founded by Oakland native Michael Liguori, makes voice control software for home automation systems. Watch video
OAKLAND -- In Star Trek, crew members can control their many futuristic devices with just their voices.
A New Jersey startup hopes to bring the same functionality to your house. But instead of controlling the shields on the Enterprise or identifying the largest planet in the nearest star system, the technology allows users to open the garage door or turn the lights on and off.
Vognition, founded by Oakland native Michael Liguori, makes voice control software for home automation systems. The company has one customer at the moment: Nexia, which allows users to control various home appliances, from surveillance to locks to lights, from a smartphone app or hub.
Vognition allows users to control systems like Nexia with their voices using any device from anywhere. They can, for example, talk into their phones to turn on the kitchen lights or raise the temperature in a certain room just by talking.
"You can use voice commands and you can also choose what device you want to give that command," Pavita Howe, chief marketing officer for the company, said.
The competition is stiff in the voice recognition market: Apple has Siri, Google has Google Now and now Mark Zuckerberg wants to build a digital butler for his house.
"Lots of very big players are committing very big resources to position themselves to capture this market," Michael Ehrlich, a professor at the New Jersey Institute Technology school of management and adviser to Vognition, said.
What will hopefully set Vognition apart is that it can be used with any device, from smartphones to home automation devices like Nexia to Amazon's Echo. It also focuses specifcally on in-home use, Saied Seghatoleslami, chief operating officer, said.
"Siri tries to solve the general problem," he said. "We try to solve a specific problem and I think that makes a big difference."
For example, if you tell Vognition to close the garage door, it will know it's already closed, where Siri might not, Seghatoleslami said. Users can create their own inputs for devices, for example, turning off the lights in Jane's room or locking the back door.
Peter Kestenbaum, an investor and co-owner of 1099 Partners, a business that works with startups, said Vognition could help manufacturers of Internet-enabled devices solve the problem Internet-enabled devices only being compatible with Apple or Android.
"I think it has potential," he said. "The world is going to divide into two or three camps. I think there'll obviously be an Apple camp and there'll obviously be an Android camp, and that's very nice except if you're a manufacturer."
Nexia has piloted Vognition voice controls with 300 customers, and the company says it has gotten positive feedback. After incorporating that feedback, the technology should go to production, Seghatoleslami said.
Vognition is looking for more home automation customers. The company plans on Wednesday to attend the International Consumer Electronics Show, a major trade show in Las Vegas, for this purpose.
The company only officially launched in October, but Liguori has nurtured the ideas behind it since 2011 at of the Enterprise Development Center at NJIT. Liguori is a 2004 NJIT graduate.
Vognition is part of a growing startup community in New Jersey centered at academic incubators like NJIT. While other states offer better subsidies to startups, New Jersey's advantage is its people, Ehrlich, the NJIT professor, said.
"New Jersey has a very highly educated, highly mobile, highly sophisticated population and work force," Ehrlich said.
Kestenbaum said Vognition needed more investors and employees to succeed. Aside from Liguori, Seghatoleslami and Howe, the company also has a development team in Pittsburgh.
"I think Michael's got a shot," Kestenbaum said. "He needs a few dollars and he needs people. He does not have a product issue. His product demos well and it works."
Myles Ma may be reached at mma@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MylesMaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
