Canadian operator Telus is rolling out a smart home generative AI assistant to its SmartHome+ customers over the coming weeks.

The assistant processes voice, images, sensor feeds and videos in real time to create a personalised interface based on user needs. It addresses the smart home industry’s fragmented user experience across disparate devices and apps from various brands.

Rather than toggling between different apps, the assistant provides one intuitive interface that understands and responds to the user and the entire connected home. Telus is making it possible to unify more than 2000 device models, including many of the biggest brands, into one intelligent interface that improves the connected home experience.

“The true test of any smart home platform is whether it actually makes life easier and your home more enjoyable,” said Dwayne Benefield, chief product officer at Telus. “The assistant delivers that with one app, one login and one AI assistant that can support thousands of smart devices, including those already existing in homes or ones consumers choose to buy to complement their existing set-up. Nothing else like it exists in the market. We’re proud to not only bring this to Canadians, but also to service providers on a global scale who can customise and deploy this innovation under their own brands.”

He said in the coming weeks, Telus would add internet management capabilities, letting users monitor and optimise wifi performance and manage family usage and screen time through natural conversation and automated actions across devices.”

The assistant is evolving in real time as more connected devices are added and it continuously improves its performance based on experience. If the user asks it to disable the TV during homework time, it won’t just say it did, it will build the automation user interface visually, so they can edit and confirm the new routine with a few taps. Take a photo of a device that isn’t working and get an instant troubleshooting guide. Ask it if the dog walker showed up on schedule and it checks cameras to say when they arrived and shows a clip of them leaving the driveway. Rush out the door to get to work, and ask it to turn off the lights, make sure the iron’s unplugged, set the thermostat to eco mode and lock the front door, then get it to create a routine so the user can set and forget it. By understanding multiple types of input, the assistant can provide tailored options, with a dynamic interface, in real time.

Since launching SmartHome+ in late 2024, Telus has rapidly expanded the platform with innovations such as automation, video, smart energy and now an AI-powered assistant, all accessible through an app.

For more information visit www.telus.com/en/smart-home/plus.