Integrating with Home Assistant for advanced IoT home automation

Why we built this Home Assistant integration

As more and more IoT devices are released into the world, many make their way into our homes. These products can range from light bulbs to garage doors to full appliances like washing machines and refrigerators. 

Rather than controlling each item through its respective app, most will integrate with well-known "smart home" platforms like Apple Homekit, Google Home, Samsung Things, or Home Assistant, to provide an overview of all devices and enable automation across the home.

Home Assistant is popular among home automation enthusiasts due to its growing community, extensive integration system, and open-source codebase. Like viam-server, Home Assistant can run on personal computers, single-board computers like the Raspberry Pi, or in containers managed by Docker or Kubernetes. 

Once  up and running, users can connect to the web interface over their local network and start discovering compatible devices. Integrations are not limited to local devices; services like RSS readers, the Domino's Pizza tracker, weather data, AdGuard, Google Maps, and more can be configured to show up in your Home Assistant dashboard and included in automations.

Leveraging data to transform home automation

At the core of Viam’s mission is the belief that data should empower users. With our Home Assistant integration, users can harness sensor data from their IoT devices to create intelligent, responsive automation workflows tailored to their unique needs. 

While Home Assistant automations are useful for reacting to various events within the system—such as motion detection, lights turning on or off, and even people arriving or leaving—they often lack the intelligence to determine whether or not it's worth responding to these events. This can lead to inefficient, noisy notifications, like being alerted every time motion is detected.

Viam’s integration changes this by enabling smarter, more context-aware automations. Instead of receiving countless alerts for every detected movement, you can refine your system to send notifications only when it detects a person or an unexpected presence. 

Best of all, this is achievable without any special hardware or ML experience.

Enhancing your home with smarter automation

Building this integration and adding it to my home automations has already been incredibly useful for me and my family. It offers immediate, smarter, and context-aware automation capabilities, making daily life more convenient and efficient. 

Viam can help personalize automations by securely capturing sensor data and images from Home Assistant entities to train a specific ML model for your needs. For example, you can:

• Adjust your thermostat or other systems based on who is present in a room.
• Close your window blinds when you detect a solicitor at the front door.
• Build your own automated filtration system with air quality monitoring.
• Stream camera feeds from Home Assistant to the Viam mobile app for enhanced monitoring.

As the Home Assistant Year of Voice continues to develop, I’d like to make it easier for community members to build their own smart assistants with speech capabilities and using local LLMs for natural language communication.

Expanding to spaces beyond the home

Viam’s approach to local data processing and intelligent automation isn’t limited to home use. The same principles apply when scaling up to more complex venues:

• Offices: Enhance productivity and sustainability by adjusting lighting, temperature, and security systems based on real-time data analysis.
• Sports arenas: Streamline operations, improve crowd management, and boost safety with automated systems that process camera feeds and sensor data.
• Smart cities: Boost safety and energy efficiency in transportation hubs, public parks, and streets with lighting based on real-time sensors, waste management pickups based on bin capacity sensors, ventilation systems based on air quality monitors, and more. 

At UBS Arena, Viam’s software will be elevating the fan journey by optimizing routes to concessions, restrooms, and coordinating traffic flow for cars and shuttles. This technology allows the arena to respond to live conditions, enhancing visitor convenience and safety.

Start building smarter spaces today

Viam’s technology and its seamless integration with platforms like Home Assistant are just the beginning. By making data processing local and secure, users can build tailored solutions that grow beyond their initial scope. 

Whether at home, in an office, or in a state-of-the-art arena, we’re excited to see how you harness your data to build smarter, more responsive spaces. 

To get started integrating Home Assistant with Viam, check out our detailed Codelabs on setting up people detection notifications. If you’re looking for inspiration on how to elevate your home automation setup, head to our post on innovative smart home projects.