Australian Geek Hacks Siri to Control Home Appliances

An electronics expert in Sydney, Australia has managed to implement a hack in Apple’s voice-activated assistant, Siri, to perform remote tasks like switching on a lamp, or opening a web page on his computer without even touching the keyboard.

Marcus Schappi, 28, said he spent just over $120 on a bunch of hardware that enabled him to make Siri a real personal assistant.

Instead of just showing the weather forecast or making reminders, Siri in the hands of Marcus Schappi now takes voice commands to turn on a lamp, open web pages, and much more.

Mr Schappi says he could also get Siri to turn the air conditioning on or off, control his media center and alarm system, and even unlock the car.

His next self-imposed assignment is to see whether he can ask Siri to close the chicken hutch and unlock the front door on his property, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

"When Apple shipped the iPhone 4S, only a subset of Siri functionality was made available to Australian consumers," said Schappi. "[This hack] could provide an opportunity for developers to fill the gap."

Schappi provided the Australian newspaper with a list containing further potential uses of the hack (reproduced below):

• With an RFID board and Arduino you could ask Siri where your keys are.

• With a temperature sensor you can ask what the temperature and humidity is.

• With RFID/distance sensors you could ask Siri if the toilet is occupied at work.

• With a GPS module you could strap it to your pet and be able to ask Siri where the pet is.

• With a Roomba (robotic vacuum cleaner) and a Roo Stick you could ask Siri to clean the house.

Mr Schappi is the director of Little Bird Company, which sells electronics. He said Apple is likely to patch up his hack, though he noted it would be a shame if they did.

And although his work did not involve jailbreaks of any kind, he admits he had to exploit a hole in the software, meaning it’s almost certain Apple will close it.