Methods, systems, and devices for using a specialized sensor for detecting activation of a fluid dispenser and for using gathered data therefrom for a variety of purposes, including determining when to refill the dispenser, tracking and analyzing operation thereof, matching operation to expected or anticipated operation, and identifying specific users and specific incidents of use associated therewith. Also provided are use of remote data repositories and/or processing devices that for processing and use of such data.

A home appliance connection method according to embodiments of the present invention may comprise the steps of: setting a wireless mode to a station mode; periodically searching for a wireless network on the basis of the station mode; and, when a wireless network search request is received from a terminal device, transmitting found wireless network information to the terminal device. A home appliance connection method according to embodiments of the present invention may further comprise a step in which the terminal device receives found wireless network information, wherein the found wireless network information of the terminal device may be information from which a wireless network not associated with a home appliance for the terminal device has been filtered. A home appliance connection method according to embodiments of the present invention may further comprise a step of, when the wireless mode is a station mode, periodically changing the wireless mode into an access point (AP) mode and periodically transmitting a beacon message to the terminal device on the basis of the AP mode. A home appliance connection method according to embodiments of the present invention may comprise a step of receiving a first advertising message on the basis of a Bluetooth from the terminal device, wherein the first advertising message may comprise a home appliance registration request. Furthermore, a home appliance connection method may comprise the steps of: transmitting a second advertising message to the terminal device on the basis of the Bluetooth in response to the first advertising message; and searching for a wireless network in response to the first advertising message.

A voice control method can be applied to a first terminal, and include: receiving a user's voice operation instruction after the first terminal is activated, the voice operation instruction being used for controlling the first terminal to perform a target operation; sending an instruction execution request to a server after the voice operation instruction is received, the instruction execution request being used for requesting the server to determine whether the first terminal is to respond to the voice operation instruction according to device information of the terminal in a device network, wherein the first terminal is located in the device network; and performing the target operation in a case where a response message is received from the server, the response message indicating that the first terminal is to respond to the voice operation instruction.

Disclosed is an electronic device that includes a display, a communication module, at least one microphone, at least one speaker, a processor operatively coupled to the display, the communication module, the microphone, and the speaker, and a memory operatively coupled to the processor. The memory may store instructions, when executed, causing the processor to transmit, through the speaker, a first audio sound including first information, receive, through the microphone, a second audio sound including second information responding to the first information from a first external electronic device, transmit, through the speaker, a third audio sound including third information for acquiring a distance to the first external electronic device after receiving the second audio sound, and receive, through the microphone, a fourth audio sound including fourth information responding to the third information from the first external electronic device.

A method for fetching a content from a web server to a client device is disclosed, using tunnel devices serving as intermediate devices. The tunnel device is selected based on an attribute, such as IP Geolocation. A tunnel bank server stores a list of available tunnels that may be used, associated with values of various attribute types. The tunnel devices initiate communication with the tunnel bank server, and stays connected to it, for allowing a communication session initiated by the tunnel bank server. Upon receiving a request from a client to a content and for specific attribute types and values, a tunnel is selected by the tunnel bank server, and is used as a tunnel for retrieving the required content from the web server, using standard protocol such as SOCKS, WebSocket or HTTP Proxy. The client only communicates with a super proxy server that manages the content fetching scheme.

A method of controlling a household appliance including receiving a device connection request signal through ultra wideband (UWB) communication from a user terminal, obtaining location information of the user terminal based on the received device connection request signal, establishing a UWB communication channel between the household appliance and the user terminal based on the obtained location information. The method includes receiving network access information to access a network from the user terminal through the established UWB communication channel, and establishing a network connection for the household appliance to access the network based on the received network access information.

The technology disclosed relates to selecting among devices room to interact with. It also relates operating a smart phone with reduced power consumption. It further relates to gesturally interacting with devices that lack gestural responsiveness. The technology disclosed also relates to distinguishing control gestures from proximate non-control gestures in a pervasive three dimensional (3D) sensory space. The technology disclosed further relates to selecting among virtual interaction modalities to interact with.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide for predicted operational support data object selection and provision functionality. Predicted operational support data object(s) may be selected and provided to address particular malfunction classification(s) affecting networked device(s) on a dynamic home communications network. Some embodiments include identifying, in real-time, a device identification data set associated with a networked device set communicable with the dynamic home communications network; retrieving a device activity data set associated with the networked device set; applying a malfunction classification data model to the device activity data set to select the predicted operational support data object from the device operational support management repository; and outputting the predicted operational support data object to a client device in communication with the dynamic home communications network. The malfunction classification data model is trained based on training data, external aggregated activity data, and malfunction device history data.

AI-assisted Connected Home systems for improving power efficiency at homes and offices are described. The system may perform operations including: receiving, from each of a plurality of power receptacles, power usage information of an electrical device attached to the power receptacle; determining, for each of the plurality of power receptacles, a plurality of power usage metrics of the power receptacle based on the power usage information; feeding the plurality of power usage metrics into a machine learning model to obtain a priority of the electrical device attached to the power receptacle, wherein the priority is one of a plurality of pre-configured priorities; obtaining a power management signal; and transmitting a plurality of control signals to the plurality of power receptacles based on the power management signal and respective priorities of the plurality of electrical devices attached to the plurality of power receptacles.

Provided is a home appliance of determining an operation command corresponding to an occupant through learning based on setting information of the home appliance according to the occupant to provide an operation satisfying all occupants. An air conditioner according to an embodiment of the disclosure includes: an outdoor unit; and an indoor unit including a heat exchanger, wherein the indoor unit includes: a communicator configured to communicate with an access point (AP); and a controller configured to receive information about a terminal connected to the access point through the communicator, and change at least one of operation temperature or an operation mode when a new terminal is connected to the access point or a terminal connected to the access point is disconnected from the access point.