Parks Associates: Google, Vivint Smart Home, Carrier, and more address convergence of voice control solutions with energy management and whole-home solutions at Smart Energy Summit

DALLAS, TX--(Marketwired - Feb 14, 2017) -  Parks Associates announced new smart energy research today showing that 49% of U.S. broadband households want the ability to monitor and adjust their thermostat remotely. 360 View: Energy Management, Smart Home, & Utility Programs notes 33% of U.S. broadband households find this feature very appealing. Parks Associates and industry experts, including Carrier, Constellation, Google, ipCapital Group, People Power, Sigma Designs/Z-Wave, and Vivint Smart Home, will address how companies can leverage voice control and artificial intelligence (AI) to broaden the consumer appeal and adoption of energy management solutions and whole-home systems at the eighth-annual Smart Energy Summit: Engaging the Consumer, February 20-22 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Austin, Texas.

"Voice control has proven to be a very popular user interface among consumers, and it is transforming the smart home user experience," said Patrice Samuels, Senior Analyst, Parks Associates. "Integrating consumer-focused voice control solutions, such as the Amazon Echo, can create new value propositions for smart lighting, thermostats, and appliances, and by integrating voice control into energy applications, companies can expand consumer engagement with their services and solutions."

Parks Associates notes that 2-4% of U.S. broadband households purchased an Echo in the past six months. The international firm notes that Amazon's Alexa technology, as well as Google Home, have the ability to drive adoption of multiple smart home and energy management products.

The Smart Energy Summit session "Leveraging Voice Control and AI in Energy Management" on Wednesday, February 22, at 3 p.m., examines how voice control and artificial intelligence are transforming the smart home and its potential to drive energy management. Speakers for the session, which will be moderated by Patrice Samuels, include:

• Benjamin Brown, Senior Product Manager, Google Home Lead for Apps & Connectivity, Google
• Nancy Cronin, Managing Partner, ipCapital Group, Inc.

"Voice control and artificial intelligence have just begun to touch home automation and energy management," said Nancy Cronin, Managing Partner, ipCapital Group, Inc. "ipCapital Group analyzed the patent activity in this space and finds abundant opportunity for future innovation, which will bring high value to both the customer and the companies serving the energy sector."

"Smart Home Systems: Opportunities for Whole Home Management," Wednesday, February 22, at 4 p.m., moderated by Tom Kerber, Director of IoT Strategy, Parks Associates, examines the current and future roles of smart home service providers in the energy space and strategies to create value for consumers. The following speakers will discuss the competition to provide energy services as part of comprehensive, whole-home solutions:

• Siva Ayer, Head of Smart Controls, Carrier
• Bill Scheffler, Director of NA Sales and Business Development, Sigma Designs/Z-Wave
• Mike Wajsgras, Director, Channel Development, Constellation
• Gene Wang, CEO & Co-founder, People Power
• Jeremy Warren, Chief Technology Officer, Vivint Smart Home

"The smart home is dumb compared to what it needs to be -- a conscious home -- and it must be significantly smarter and more secure in order to achieve full market potential. We must fix that. And, today, we can," said Gene Wang, CEO and Co-founder, People Power. "The next milestone in better serving the connected home comes from micro-services that constantly listen to and understand real-time data streams from a user's life to learn patterns and produce more intelligent outcomes. This happens through bot-enabled AI for IoT deployments, which allows businesses to integrate differentiating new services into legacy or in-market products and benefit from recurring subscription service fees. Then, increased whole home management adoption is eminent because everyone wins."

Smart Energy Summit will host more than 300 executives in an intimate networking environment, with a focus on the convergence of smart energy and IoT with the smart home. Parks Associates will host the research workshop "Utilities and Consumer Engagement Strategies" on Monday, February 20, prior to Smart Energy Summit.

Conference sponsors include People Power Company, Austin Energy, Bidgely, Carrier, ecobee, EnergyHub, Hampton Products International, Honeywell, Jasmine Universe, Powerley, Trusource Labs, UtilityShield, The Weather Company, Whisker Labs, Xively, Z-Wave, Grid4C, ipCapital Group, MivaTek, and State Farm.

Parks Associates is accepting press pass requests for Smart Energy Summit: Engaging the Consumer at http://www.parksassociates.com/ses-presspass. More information about the Smart Energy Summit is available at www.SES2017.com. To speak with an analyst or request specific research data, contact Holly Sprague at hsprague@gmail.com or 720-987-6614.

About Smart Energy Summit
Smart Energy Summit: Engaging the Consumer examines new cross-industry opportunities in the expanding market for energy solutions, including connected devices, energy management, utility services, and home control platforms and services, as they evolve within the smart home and consumer-based Internet of Things.

Smart Energy Summit focuses particularly on the challenge of engaging consumers with energy-related solutions. Research analysts, thought leaders, and industry executives present and discuss business strategies, case studies, partnership opportunities, and consumer research that utilities, service providers, retailers, and manufacturers can use to expand and monetize their energy offerings.

The eighth-annual Smart Energy Summit will take place February 20-22, 2017, at the Four Seasons Hotel in Austin, Texas. The summit agenda features leaders from utilities, state and national regulators, telecom and security companies, retailers, and OEMs. Follow the event on Twitter at @SmartEnergySmt and #SmartEnergy17 and on the Smart Energy Insights Blog. For information on speaking, sponsoring, or attending Smart Energy Summit, visit www.ses2017.com.