Homer via Alice

Russian only

Alice and Yandex Station speak Russian only. This page is for Russian-language homes; the example phrases are given in Russian with a translation. In an English home, talk to the Homer speaker.

You can talk to Homer not only through the speaker on the computer, but also through any Yandex Station or app with Alice. The home has two Alice skills for this, and they work differently.

	Homer: smart home	Собеседник Хомер (Homer Companion): conversation
How to call	no need: «Алиса, включи свет» (“Alice, turn on the light”)	by name: «Алиса, спроси у Хомера…» (“Alice, ask Homer…”)
What it can do	turn devices and scenes on and off	everything the speaker can: questions, cameras, music, timers, tasks
Without the speaker computer	works	quick light commands only

Homer: devices in “Дом с Алисой”

This is a “Smart home” type skill. Devices from Home Assistant appear in the “Дом с Алисой” (Home with Alice) app in their rooms, and Alice controls them herself, with no skill in the middle of the phrase:

• «Алиса, включи свет» (turn on the light), «Алиса, выключи свет на кухне» (turn off the kitchen light)
• «Алиса, включи телевизор» (turn on the TV), «Алиса, выключи мониторы» (turn off the monitors — a group from the Yandex app)
• «Алиса, включи Вечер» (turn on Evening): Homer app presets reach Alice as scenes

The home plan decides which devices go to Alice: items on the plan go to her by themselves after every plan edit. Lights grouped into one fixture appear to Alice as one device. A new device shows up in “Дом с Алисой” in a minute or two. If it doesn't, tap “Обновить список устройств” (Update device list) in the Yandex app.

Собеседник Хомер: talking to the brains

The conversation skill passes your phrase to the Homer brains, the same ones that answer the speaker on the computer.

How to start

• In one phrase: «Алиса, спроси у Хомера, где горит свет» (“Alice, ask Homer where the lights are on”). Homer answers, and the skill closes.
• As a dialog: «Алиса, запусти навык Собеседник Хомер» (“Alice, launch the Homer Companion skill”). Homer says «Что сделать?» (“What should I do?”), and then you can talk without “Alice”.
• To exit: «хватит», «стоп» or «пока» (enough, stop, bye).

What it can do

A phrase goes through two steps.

Quick commands on the Homer server, without a neural network, in a fraction of a second. They work even when the speaker computer is off:

• «включи свет», «погаси свет в спальне» (turn on the light, turn off the bedroom light): the room can be named in any case;
• «выключи везде», «включи во всём доме» (turn everything off, turn on in the whole home);
• «яркость на пятьдесят процентов», «сделай ярче», «темнее» (brightness to fifty percent, brighter, darker).

Without a room name, the command goes to the room where the speaker stands.

Homer brains on the computer answer everything else:

• questions about the home: “where are the lights on?”, “what's on right now?”;
• cameras: “who's in the kitchen?”, “what can you see in the yard?”;
• TV (volume, channel, input), blinds, climate, vacuum, scenes;
• names and groups from the Yandex app: “turn off the monitors”;
• music and timers: “play something calm”, “remind me in ten minutes”;
• memory: “remember the cat's name is Boris”, “forget about the cat”;
• multi-step jobs that Homer hands to Opus: “make the kitchen switch a light and add it to all lights”. Each such task is written to the log.

The full list of actions is on the Tools page. They are turned on and off in the same place as for the speaker: Settings → Speaker → Homer brains.

«Ну что?» (“So?”)

Alice gives a skill about three seconds to answer. Homer makes it with simple things, and if it thinks longer (a camera, a task), it says «Сейчас посмотрю» (“Let me look”).

Then ask «ну что?» (“so?”), and Homer tells you what came of it. The ready answer waits for two minutes.

When the computer is off

The skill still runs quick light commands. For everything else, Homer honestly says the brains are unavailable right now.

Alice or the speaker

• The speaker on the computer hears “Homer, …” with no extra words and answers faster, but only where its microphone is.
• Alice is on every Station and on your phone, but you have to start with «Алиса, спроси у Хомера» (“Alice, ask Homer”).

They can do the same things: both have the same brains and the same set of tools behind them.