Comprehensive Review of Offline Voice Control Systems for Smart Homes: Technological Advances, Existing Challenges, and Prospective Developments

Section: Review Articles
Issue
Vol. 20 No. 1 (2026): Vol. 20 No. 1 (2026): Volume 20 Issue 1
Pages
1-11

Keywords:

Offline voice control, Smart homes, TinyML, Keyword spotting, Embedded speech recognition, Privacy, Edge AI

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.

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Authors

Dalya Talal

Department of Medical Laboratories Techniques, Mosul Medical Technical Institute, Northern Technical University, Mosul, Iraq

Azam Al-Rawachy

College of Engineering Department, Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Mosul, Iraq

Abdalla Eblabla

Center for High Frequency Engineering (CHFE), School of Engineering, Cardiff University, CF10 3AT Cardiff, U.K

Identifiers

DOI: 10.33899/rjcsm.v20i1.60652

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Comprehensive Review of Offline Voice Control Systems for Smart Homes: Technological Advances, Existing Challenges, and Prospective Developments. (2026). AL-Rafidain Journal of Computer Sciences and Mathematics, 20(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.33899/rjcsm.v20i1.60652
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Comprehensive Review of Offline Voice Control Systems for Smart Homes: Technological Advances, Existing Challenges, and Prospective Developments. (2026). AL-Rafidain Journal of Computer Sciences and Mathematics, 20(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.33899/rjcsm.v20i1.60652