Comprehensive review of offline voice control systems for smart homes: technological advances, existing challenges, and prospective developments

Talal, Dalya, Al-Rawachy, Azam and Eblabla, Abdalla ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5991-892X 2026. Comprehensive review of offline voice control systems for smart homes: technological advances, existing challenges, and prospective developments. Maǧallaẗ al-rāfidayn li-ʿulūm al-ḥāsibāt wa-al-riyāḍiyyāẗ/Al-Rafidain journal for computer sciences and mathematics 20 (1) , pp. 1-11. 10.33899/rjcsm.v20i1.60652

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Abstract

The offline voice control systems are becoming more prominent in the smart home environment because of their ability to deliver quick feedback, preserve the privacy of the user, and be able to function even without network connectivity. However, their usage has not been mainstreamed, due to restrictions on vocabulary, resistance to noise, and hardware performance. In this paper, the authors attempt to provide a critical assessment of the recent developments in offline voice control technology in smart homes. On devices with limited resources, it evaluates a variety of datasets, frameworks, embedded platforms, and algorithmic enhancements. Moreover, the paper examines the issues linked to the growth of vocabulary, audio variability, and privacy, as well as interoperability and compares offline and online paradigms in terms of a more detailed analytical framework. Among the emerging trends highlighted include lightweight keyword spotting, embedded spoken language understanding, neural processing units, and on-device personalization, as being crucial in the evolution of future systems. This paper summarizes the current situation and outlines the future trends of the offline voice control technologies as it is applicable to smart home usage by synthesizing recent achievements and pinpointing the current limitations of the technology.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Engineering
ISSN:	1815-4816
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	8 July 2026
Date of Acceptance:	15 February 2026
Last Modified:	08 Jul 2026 11:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/188070

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