Superheroes voice assistants, or Alexa can do everything
Voice assistants continue to gain popularity: at the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) 2017 there were a lot of devices with built-in voice assistants, including Alexa. In today's article we will see how Alexa differs from its competitors, how it can replace parents, why it is better not to listen to the radio or TV, and whether the voice assistant can be a witness in court.
Photo Felice Candilio CC-BY
Alexa, in contrast to its "colleagues", is beyond the scope of mobile phones. Amazon initially focused on developing its own Echo device , which also speaks to users and has similar functionality as competitors of Alexa from phones. But in 2015, the company went even further and opened access for third-party manufacturers to its technology. Although developers could have used Alexa before, now the quality of voice recognition on any device has become the same as on Amazon Echo.
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Amazon even created a $ 100 million fund to invest in startups who would like to use a voice assistant in their designs. This contributed to the emergence of a large number of devices. According to estimates by analyst firm Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP), only in the USA at the beginning of 2017 Amazon Echo and other devices with Alexa voice were used in 8.2 million homes. True, the device does not yet support the Russian language and is generally not available in Russia, like many other Amazon services.
What other devices can you find Alexa? Now the assistant will be officially presented even in the smartphone : the Huawei Mate 9 Alexa is built in directly, just like Siri in the iPhone. The form of interaction with TVs has also changed: Amazon Fire TV with voice control will now be embedded into 4K TVs of some brands (Element, Sieki and Westinghouse).
Famous car brands are also interested in implementing Alexa: Ford, Volkswagen and even BMW are planning to launch Amazon’s voice control in onboard computers. Drivers can ask Alexa to include music, get directions, expand their shopping list, find out the weather forecast, and upload waypoints to the navigation system.
Household appliances are also able to communicate: Alexa can turn on the oven , make coffee or make tea and find out when the dishwasher has finished washing the dishes. And the LG fridge integration gives users the ability to create a shopping list and order grocery delivery.
In addition, the ways of communication with voice assistants are expanding. Thanks to the integration with Sensory headphones, Alexa and her colleagues can always be right in the ear, which will make interaction with them much more convenient. VoiceGenie technology will be available to other manufacturers, so soon these headphones will appear more and more.
The number of assistant skills is growing even faster: in January, Amazon talked about exceeding the threshold of 7000 "skills", and in February their number reached 10,000. Today, voice assistants are being introduced by companies such as Campbell Soup Company, Domino's Pizza, Uber and Capital One. Now you can find a recipe, order food delivery or a taxi and check the balance of your bank account literally without hands, it’s enough to activate the necessary Alexa skill.
In addition, if you have an account, Kayak Alexa will be able to plan a trip: find out the price for the desired date, or, conversely, find tickets for a given amount. And collaboration with the smswithmolly.com website allows you to use a voice assistant for a “contactless” set of SMS messages.
The device also knows how to work as a fitness trainer and, at the request of users, offers them exercises for a 7-minute charge. And board game lovers will love Alexa’s ability to reproduce paragraphs of the rules, which will put an end to disputes about who goes first, and will save time on searching in sometimes multi-page printed rules.
In the world of technology, many responsibilities can be shifted to smart devices, even parent ones. So, Alexa can put the child to bed by reading him a bedtime story. We have already told what sounds and music can help to relax and fall asleep not only for children, but also for adults. And those who are affected by natural sounds are lucky - Alexa also has special skills for this case.
But still the most useful is SkillFinder, which will help you navigate a huge amount of new skills, find the right “skill” or constantly monitor the emerging skills of Alexa, offering to try the “skill of the day”.
Expanding the skills of voice assistants makes them more versatile. However, this leads to certain problems: Alexa and her colleagues can be activated in inappropriate situations. For example, there is a case when a little girl from Texas ordered a dollhouse and almost two kilograms of sweets via Alexa without the knowledge of her parents.
But the story is not over. The most interesting thing started after the TV story about this incident, in which the presenter repeated the girl’s phrase: “Alexa, order me a dollhouse”. All over San Diego, where the news came out, voice assistants were activated, which began to order houses. Amazon representatives point out that random orders can be canceled for free.
This is not the first example of random device activation. So, while listening to the radio program “Listen Up”, in which Echo was discussed, users noted that when they heard their name, Alexa changed the temperature in the room and began to play a summary of the latest news.
Another Alexa's ability - storing records on a server - attracted the attention of law enforcement. The device was located in the house where the murder was committed. And prosecutor Nathan Smith suggested that the court ask Amazon for data that might help clarify the circumstances of the death of the victim. Amazon representatives said they would only be able to provide personalized data if they had a legal requirement.
How such data will be useful is a big question. The device records the conversation with the user only after uttering a special word, in this case “Alexa”, and stops recording after the command is executed. Therefore, it is possible that the voice assistant cannot provide direct evidence.
According to Gartner, by 2020 the number of Internet of Things devices worldwide will reach 20 billion. Yin Rani, vice president responsible for integrated marketing at Campbell, believes that familiar screens will soon be replaced by voice or gesture control. Therefore, it is quite possible that the expansion of Amazon and Alexa will continue.
True, the growth of popularity will also lead to not very pleasant consequences: direct advertising and other, completely new and unusually aggressive ways of monetization can soon penetrate into voice services.
PS From our blog on GT - “ Introduction to audio brands ”: a selection of materials and useful sources on the topic.
Photo Felice Candilio CC-BYAlexa, in contrast to its "colleagues", is beyond the scope of mobile phones. Amazon initially focused on developing its own Echo device , which also speaks to users and has similar functionality as competitors of Alexa from phones. But in 2015, the company went even further and opened access for third-party manufacturers to its technology. Although developers could have used Alexa before, now the quality of voice recognition on any device has become the same as on Amazon Echo.
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Amazon even created a $ 100 million fund to invest in startups who would like to use a voice assistant in their designs. This contributed to the emergence of a large number of devices. According to estimates by analyst firm Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP), only in the USA at the beginning of 2017 Amazon Echo and other devices with Alexa voice were used in 8.2 million homes. True, the device does not yet support the Russian language and is generally not available in Russia, like many other Amazon services.
Who is talking?
What other devices can you find Alexa? Now the assistant will be officially presented even in the smartphone : the Huawei Mate 9 Alexa is built in directly, just like Siri in the iPhone. The form of interaction with TVs has also changed: Amazon Fire TV with voice control will now be embedded into 4K TVs of some brands (Element, Sieki and Westinghouse).
Famous car brands are also interested in implementing Alexa: Ford, Volkswagen and even BMW are planning to launch Amazon’s voice control in onboard computers. Drivers can ask Alexa to include music, get directions, expand their shopping list, find out the weather forecast, and upload waypoints to the navigation system.
By the way, on the topic of VUI, we have a lot of materials in our “World Hi-Fi”.
(a couple of examples)
Household appliances are also able to communicate: Alexa can turn on the oven , make coffee or make tea and find out when the dishwasher has finished washing the dishes. And the LG fridge integration gives users the ability to create a shopping list and order grocery delivery.
In addition, the ways of communication with voice assistants are expanding. Thanks to the integration with Sensory headphones, Alexa and her colleagues can always be right in the ear, which will make interaction with them much more convenient. VoiceGenie technology will be available to other manufacturers, so soon these headphones will appear more and more.
Alexa can do anything
The number of assistant skills is growing even faster: in January, Amazon talked about exceeding the threshold of 7000 "skills", and in February their number reached 10,000. Today, voice assistants are being introduced by companies such as Campbell Soup Company, Domino's Pizza, Uber and Capital One. Now you can find a recipe, order food delivery or a taxi and check the balance of your bank account literally without hands, it’s enough to activate the necessary Alexa skill.
In addition, if you have an account, Kayak Alexa will be able to plan a trip: find out the price for the desired date, or, conversely, find tickets for a given amount. And collaboration with the smswithmolly.com website allows you to use a voice assistant for a “contactless” set of SMS messages.
The device also knows how to work as a fitness trainer and, at the request of users, offers them exercises for a 7-minute charge. And board game lovers will love Alexa’s ability to reproduce paragraphs of the rules, which will put an end to disputes about who goes first, and will save time on searching in sometimes multi-page printed rules.
In the world of technology, many responsibilities can be shifted to smart devices, even parent ones. So, Alexa can put the child to bed by reading him a bedtime story. We have already told what sounds and music can help to relax and fall asleep not only for children, but also for adults. And those who are affected by natural sounds are lucky - Alexa also has special skills for this case.
But still the most useful is SkillFinder, which will help you navigate a huge amount of new skills, find the right “skill” or constantly monitor the emerging skills of Alexa, offering to try the “skill of the day”.
"I'm not guilty"
Expanding the skills of voice assistants makes them more versatile. However, this leads to certain problems: Alexa and her colleagues can be activated in inappropriate situations. For example, there is a case when a little girl from Texas ordered a dollhouse and almost two kilograms of sweets via Alexa without the knowledge of her parents.
But the story is not over. The most interesting thing started after the TV story about this incident, in which the presenter repeated the girl’s phrase: “Alexa, order me a dollhouse”. All over San Diego, where the news came out, voice assistants were activated, which began to order houses. Amazon representatives point out that random orders can be canceled for free.
This is not the first example of random device activation. So, while listening to the radio program “Listen Up”, in which Echo was discussed, users noted that when they heard their name, Alexa changed the temperature in the room and began to play a summary of the latest news.
Another Alexa's ability - storing records on a server - attracted the attention of law enforcement. The device was located in the house where the murder was committed. And prosecutor Nathan Smith suggested that the court ask Amazon for data that might help clarify the circumstances of the death of the victim. Amazon representatives said they would only be able to provide personalized data if they had a legal requirement.
How such data will be useful is a big question. The device records the conversation with the user only after uttering a special word, in this case “Alexa”, and stops recording after the command is executed. Therefore, it is possible that the voice assistant cannot provide direct evidence.
According to Gartner, by 2020 the number of Internet of Things devices worldwide will reach 20 billion. Yin Rani, vice president responsible for integrated marketing at Campbell, believes that familiar screens will soon be replaced by voice or gesture control. Therefore, it is quite possible that the expansion of Amazon and Alexa will continue.
True, the growth of popularity will also lead to not very pleasant consequences: direct advertising and other, completely new and unusually aggressive ways of monetization can soon penetrate into voice services.
PS From our blog on GT - “ Introduction to audio brands ”: a selection of materials and useful sources on the topic.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/403899/
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