Systems 2021, 9, 77. https://doi.org/10.3390/systems9040077 www.mdpi.com/journal/systems Article Smart Home Automation—Use Cases of a Secure and Integrated Voice‐Control System Sitalakshmi Venkatraman *, Anthony Overmars and Minh Thong Department of Business and Construction, Melbourne Polytechnic, Preston, VIC 3072, Australia; AnthonyOvermars@melbournepolytechnic.edu.au (A.O.); minhthong561@gmail.com (M.T.) * Correspondence: SitaVenkat@melbournepolytechnic.edu.au Abstract: Smart home automation is expected to improve living standards with the evolution of internet of things (IoT) that facilitate the remote control of residential appliances. There are, how‐ ever, several factors that require attention for broader successful consumer adoption. This paper focusses on three key barriers: (i) different underlying technologies requiring an integrated voice‐ based control for ease of use, (ii) lack of trust due to security and privacy concerns, and (iii) una‐ wareness of the use of machine intelligence by users for exploiting the full potential of smartness. Voice‐controlled home environments are possible with cloud‐based solutions that are being de‐ ployed commercially. However, there are drawbacks due to non‐standard voice channels and com‐ mands with delays in meeting the required response time for real‐time services. Adoption is also required to meet with the expected goals of simplicity, security, and integration. To address these barriers, we propose a model integrating IoT services and wireless technologies for developing a secure smart home automation with a voice‐controlled artificial intelligence system. We demonstrate the model’s application in a variety of practical use cases, by implementing a secure and smart voice‐based system for an inte‐ grated control of several home devices seamlessly. Keywords: smart home automation; internet of things (IoT); voice‐controlled systems; security and privacy; integrated solution 1. Introduction The momentous evolution of Internet of Things (IoT) has enabled the realisation of smart homes of the future [1]. Ideally, IoT devices in a smart home environment can communicate seamlessly with one another via the internet, with intelligent capabilities for big data‐based decision making [2,3]. While there is an expected improvement in the quality of human life, the current gaps in practical implementation form barriers in the adoption of smart devices in home environments [4,5]. Studies show that the potential value of smart homes can be realised if existing barriers such as interoperability among IoT systems, security and privacy concerns, and usability of IoT data gaps are addressed [6,7]. Further, there is lack of awareness for fully exploiting the capabilities of different IoT devices to use machine intelligence for a voice‐based integrated smart home automation [8,9]. Currently, users consider health and fitness as the two main categories of applications for successful IoT adoption and a range of devices and appliances are still emerging towards establishing smart homes of the future [10,11]. Greater economic considerations are given to human productivity in the office environment as well as safety in factories or worksites for workplace automation. Hence, research and commercial develop‐ ment have focused on business‐to‐business applications rather than consumer applications [12]. However, some of the smartness with interconnected thermostat devices, self‐guided vacuum cleaners, automated lighting, door entry/security systems, kitchen and laundry ap‐ pliances could be employed to achieve chore automation, energy efficiency and other areas of Citation: Venkatraman, S.; Overmars, A.; Thong, M. Smart Home Automation—Use Cases of a Secure and Integrated Voice‐Control System. Systems 2021, 9, 77. https://doi.org/10.3390/ systems9040077 Received: 26 August 2021 Accepted: 26 October 2021 Published: 28 October 2021 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neu‐ tral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institu‐ tional affiliations. Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Li‐ censee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and con‐ ditions of the Creative Commons At‐ tribution (CC BY) license (http://crea‐ tivecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).