Cheer for your favorite NCAA team and Xfinity will respond with matching lights

Screaming and hollering at your TV during a March Madness game (or any game, really) is standard behavior for true fans. And while it might feel good to express yourself at critical moments, wouldn’t it feel even better if something actually happened as a result of all that enthusiasm? That is the idea behind Comcast’s new Xfinity March Madness voice commands: Holler at your team and even if the players can’t hear you, your smart home lighting will acknowledge your energy by bathing your media room in your team’s colors.

You can use the interactive feature right now, but you need a few things to make it work. First, you’ll need an Xfinity TV service with an X1 set-top box, and a matching X1 voice remote. You’ll also need to be subscribed to either Comcast’s Xfinity Home, or xFi internet services. Lastly, you need at least one Philips Hue, or LIFX color-capable lightbulb (despite the fact the image above shows a Philips Hue White), though obviously the more of these you have, the better.

After pairing your smart lightbulbs with your X1 system via the Xfinity xFi, or Xfinity Home app, you’re ready to go. When it’s time to cheer, grab your X1 voice remote, mash the mic button and let loose with, “Xfinity Home, go (your favorite team’s name)!” For example, say, “Xfinity Home, go Villanova,” and your connected lightbulbs will turn blue and cyan. If you say, “Xfinity Home, go Iowa State,” the lights will turn red and gold. Not all teams have two colors — Houston, for instance, is only red — but every team is represented. The Comcast team has pre-programmed all 68 NCAA teams into the system, so no matter who you’re cheering for, your smart lighting can respond.

It’s not the first time Xfinity has let customers activate their smart lighting through the X1 voice remote. In the past, you’ve been able to say, “Xfinity Home, make lights blue,” but this marks the first time you can do so just by saying the name of a team.

It’s also not the only NCAA-related set of voice commands. You can also say:

• “College basketball bracket” to access a full-screen takeover of regional or full tournament standings.
• “College basketball” to go to the tournament destination in the X1 Sports Guide.
• “Minnesota Golden Gophers versus Louisville Cardinals” (or any other relevant matchup) for game summaries or how teams facing off stack up against one another.

Here’s the full list of team names, along with their corresponding colors: