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The Google Assistant Can Tell Your Roomba Where to Clean

The Roomba i7+ can map your home's floor plan as it sweeps up. So with the Google Assistant, you can command the robot to clean up a specific room with just your voice.

 & Angela Moscaritolo Managing Editor, Consumer Electronics

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Google is teaming up with Roomba maker iRobot to create new smart home features based on indoor maps of users' homes.

The high-end Roomba i7+ robot vacuum can map your home's floor plan as it sweeps up. So with Google Assistant, you can command the robot to clean up a specific room with just your voice by saying "Hey Google, clean the kitchen" or "Hey Google, clean the living room."

Going forward, the companies plan to further integrate their platforms, giving customers "the choice to opt in to new innovative smart home experiences that leverage a broader understanding of the home's space," iRobot announced Wednesday. The announcement is light on details, but iRobot says its indoor mapping data "may help to simplify smart home setup and enable powerful new automations."

Last year, iRobot co-founder and CEO Colin Angle announced his intention to share maps of users' homes with third-party companies working on smart home devices. At the time, he said iRobot's mapping data can help smart home devices like lights, thermostats, and security cameras better understand their physical environment.

"Robots with mapping and spatial awareness capabilities will play an important role in allowing other smart devices in the home to more seamlessly work together," Angle said in a statement this week. "We're looking forward to working with Google to explore new ways to enable a more thoughtful home."

Google, meanwhile, said it does not collect any spatial awareness data from iRobot.

"Much like assigning smart lights or other smart devices to rooms in the home, the Assistant only learns what names people have given to areas of their homes, so that it can then deploy the iRobot i7+ to that area," a Google spokesperson told PCMag today. "We do not receive any information on the layout of the home or where the areas are, respectively."

About Our Expert

Angela Moscaritolo

Angela Moscaritolo

Managing Editor, Consumer Electronics

My Experience

I'm PCMag's managing editor for consumer electronics, overseeing an experienced team of analysts covering smart home, home entertainment, wearables, fitness and health tech, and various other product categories. I have been with PCMag for more than 10 years, and in that time have written more than 6,000 articles and reviews for the site. I previously served as an analyst focused on smart home and wearable devices, and before that I was a reporter covering consumer tech news. I'm also a yoga instructor, and have been actively teaching group and private classes for nearly a decade. 

Prior to joining PCMag, I was a reporter for SC Magazine, focusing on hackers and computer security. I earned a BS in journalism from West Virginia University, and started my career writing for newspapers in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

The Technology I Use

My little Florida beach bungalow is brimming with smart home tech. I have a smart speaker or display in every room, allowing me to control other connected devices by voice. The Nest Hub on my bedside table lets me set wake-up alarms, control my smart light bulbs, and set the temperature on my smart thermostat. I use the Amazon Echo Show 8 on my kitchen counter to browse recipes, reorder protein powder, check the weather, and watch the news while I do dishes. 

Because I suffer from allergies, air purifiers are essential. My favorite model is the Dyson Purifier Cool TP07, which doubles as a fan and continuously sends indoor pollution data to its companion mobile app. 

My pitbull Bradley sheds, so a good robot vacuum is a must. I currently use a premium Ecovacs Deebot that can both vacuum and mop, empty its own dustbin, and wash its own mop cloth. 

For fitness, I like to mix up my routine with cycling, indoor rowing, running, and strength training in addition to yoga. I take classes on the Tonal 2 smart strength training machine, I row indoors on an Aviron machine, and track my beach runs with an Apple Watch while listening to music on my Apple AirPods Pro. On the weekends, I love riding e-bikes like the rugged, beach-friendly Aventon Aventure for fun and fitness.

My job involves a lot of virtual meetings, so a quality webcam, microphone, and ring light are important. I use the Jabra PanaCast 20 webcam, the Elgato Wave: 3 microphone, and a Yesker tripod ring light. 

As for my preferred phone platform, I'm an iPhone person, but I've also extensively used Android for product testing.

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