Sberbank : Sber opens smart home API platforms to third-party manufacturers

Sber is opening the smart home API and documentation for smart device manufacturers, thus letting them integrate their products with the Salute family of virtual assistants. Salute users will now be able to control the devices of a vendor the same way they control a Sber smart home, as patterns, voice commands, and user interfaces will be the same.

Sber launched its smart home platform and three smart devices - two light bulbs and a plug-in outlet - in February 2021, and users of Salute assistants will be able to control third-party devices with their help very soon. The interaction with third-party smart devices will be the same as with Sber devices, i.e. through the interfaces of the SberSalute mobile application, the SberPortal smart screen, the SberBox smart set-top box, and SberBox Top, a brand new TV media center with a smart camera. You can use voice commands or the touch interface. The integration of Sber's smart devices allows you to automate their work in the house and control them as one.

Device integration is currently available to the categories complying with Sber's smart home:

• lamps (dimming, color temperature, RGB)
• plug-in smart outlets/relays (with names assigned by users).

To access Sber smart home API, manufacturers need to follow these simple steps:

1. sign up in the developer's member area
2. get the keys and API description
3. code the integration (two streams: control and detection).

Once vendor devices have been verified by the Sber team, users can add them to the Sber smart home.

Devices can only be integrated cloud2cloud - for the devices to be controlled through an assistant, the manufacturer's API must be available online.

SberDevices is a Sber ecosystem company and a center of expertise on AI-based solutions in fields such as speech technology, natural-language interpretation, and face and voice biometrics. The company also focuses on creating smart devices for end users and corporate clients. SberDevices was founded in May 2019 as a department in Sberbank's Technology unit.

The Salute assistants are the first family of virtual assistants in the world, each member imbued with their own character, habits, and manner of communication. Users can pick the character they feel suits them better. In addition to holding a conversation and answering questions, the assistants can also order food, make a doctor's appointment, book a salon appointment, transfer money, or top up your mobile phone. They are available on iOS and Android in the SberBank Online and SberSalute mobile apps and on a number of Sber smart devices and more. The family of virtual assistants was created by the SberDevices team, which develops AI-based solutions, as well as designing smart devices.

SberPortal is the first Russian smart display with acoustics by Harman Kardon, a 4K wide-angle AI camera, and a 10-inch HD screen. The Salute virtual assistant family is integrated into the device. The smart display plays back multimedia content, makes video calls, and also lets you make purchases while watching a movie and delegates various routine tasks to your virtual assistant. It has voice and gesture controls and a sensor interface. SberPortal users have access to tens of thousands of movies, TV shows, and lectures through Okko online cinema, to games and educational apps and videos on the internet and digital TV channels, and to music through SberSound. SberPortal was created by the SberDevices team, which develops AI-based solutions, as well as designing smart devices.

SberBox is a smart set-top box equipped with the Salute family of virtual assistants. The device turns any television into an entertainment center, providing users with unlimited possibilities for organizing their leisure time and solving day-to-day matters. SberBox lets you watch an enormous amount of TV channels, movies, TV shows, and videos (4K Ultra HD and Dolby Digital Plus are supported), listen to music with great audio quality, play games on a big screen (controlled via remote or virtual gamepad, including mobile joysticks), make purchases while watching a movie, and delegate various routine tasks to your virtual assistant, which reacts to voice commands. All you need is a TV with an HDMI port and Wi-Fi and a smartphone with the SberSalute app installed. Setup takes five minutes with the step-by-step instructions displayed on your TV screen.