The thought of holding a conversation with a computer seemed
pure science fiction .You can ask a computer to "open the doors" but
that was only in movies. But things are changing quickly. A increasing number of
people now talk to their mobile for directions, or find information on the Web.
We are at a changeover degree where voice and natural-language
understanding are suddenly at the cutting edge. Speech recognition is really going
to upend the prevailing computer interface. Progress has come about due to steady
progress in the technologies needed to help machines understand human speech. Advanced
voice technology is already commonplace in call centres, where it lets users navigate
through menus and helps identify customers who should be turned over to a real customer service rep .The rapid rise
of powerful mobile devices is making voice interfaces even more useful and distributive.
The most obvious example of a voice interface is Siri,
the voice-activated personal assistant that comes with the latest iPhone. While
these interfaces still have significant limitations , we are inching closer to machine
interfaces we can actually talk to.
Oral communication is ideally suited to mobile computing partly because users have their hands and eyes occupied—but also because a single spoken command can achieve tasks that would normally require a large number of swipes and presses.
Inspired by the success of voice recognition software on mobile
phones, companies hope to put its voice communication interfaces in many more places,
most notably the television and the automobile. Both are popular and good for innovation.
To find a show on TV, viewers presently have to navigate inconvenient
menus using a remote that was never designed for text queries. Products that were
supposed to make finding a show easier, such as Google TV, have proved too complex
for people who just want to relax for an evening's entertainment.
Apple is rumored to be developing its own television, and it's speculated that Siri will be its controller. The idea has been obtained from the biography of Steve Jobs, in which Jobs claimed that he had finally figured out the TV interface.
Meanwhile, the Sync entertainment system in Ford automobiles
already lets drivers pull up directions, weather information, and songs. Approximately
four million Ford cars on the road have Sync with voice recognition.
One reason voice interfaces have become popular on smart phones
is that users speak directly into the device's microphone. To assure that the system
works well in televisions and cars, where there is more background noise, the company
is experimenting with array microphones and noise-cancelling technology.
Now, maybe in the near future our devices may actually be
able to understand what we speak. Next time you get frustrated with your
computer don’t curse it.........maybe it will curse back.
This article was lovingly written by Prem Anand. He is a Computer Science Engineering student and the
Chief Author of this blog. Follow him on Twitter or Stay in touch with him in Google+ or subscribe to his public updates on Facebook and appreciate his hard
work. |
Also do not forget to share and comment, if you like the article.
