Gemini for Google Home can now use your cameras to activate the system

Google Home is launching a new Gemini-powered automation feature that can activate smart home systems based on input security cameras can see. These are one of several changes was announced yesterday for Gemini Home, including support for voice calls and enhanced stability, following its initial launch in October.

“We’re introducing a new platform that lets you create a virtual machine,” Google said in its announcement. “Because your cameras can understand what they’re seeing, your smart home can handle everything that’s happening in your home.”

This show is powered by Nest cameras and select third-party cameras”Built Gemini,” and is available in English only to people in the United States who are currently enrolled in the Google Home Public Preview program. You also need to enable AI features on your cameras using “Gemini for Home camera features,” and subscribe to the Google Home Premium Advanced plan ($20 per month or $200 per year).

To set up the service, Google says you can describe the event you want to trigger the system using natural language, and select which cameras inside or outside your home you need to monitor. Google advises you to define what your camera sees best, and says that the camera “requires a few seconds to update what it sees,” so this should not be used for “immediate, non-time-sensitive, or security purposes.”

For example, you can ask the Gemini House to look for “raccoons near the garbage” to start a habit of turning on the security lights to scare them, or tell them to notify you when they notice that the mail has been sent. You can also ask it to look for a “red BMW on the road” or real people (if you have the Friendly Faces feature), and then activate functions inside your home, such as opening smart blinds or controlling your heating system.

Google also announced that Gemini Home users can now ask the voice assistant to initiate several actions at once, such as telling them to lower the blinds, turn off the lights, set a 20-minute timer, and start your favorite podcast. Gemini should also respond quickly to voice commands, giving “invariant and automatic” responses to natural language commands, such as asking them to turn the lights in your room “a little warmer.”