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They should add a character named alexa, and have everyone address her by name and order her around.
by jp57 9y ago
They should add a character named alexa, and have everyone address her by name and order her around.
- mkempe 9y agoDon't forget Siri. I still don't understand why these companies cannot let us choose a name for our listening devices. Computers can be named, phones too.
- c54 9y agoThe models listening for the initial hook of "okay google" or "hey cortana" etc are stored and executed locally on the device-- usually in a low power manner. This comes with a set of constraints: Certain activation phrases are more catchy than others, with hard consonant sounds and enough length for the alg to grab on to. Allowing users to pick any name opens this up to a high false positive rate, where the device would 'respond' to arbitrary inputs rather than specifically its name when called. Training models on new trigger words and then deploying them back down to the device is in its infancy, and voice detection has a long way to go (another example of this is the difficulty around responding to a specific person's voice, with its signature sounds etc). I could see this happening in the future as the tech improves.
- Taek 9y agoMy understanding is that these devices have ASICs which listen for their names, the actual pattern for the name coded into hardware, meaning that you can't easily select a new name. Voice recognition takes more CPU power than the devices have, especially if you are trying to prolong battery life, and I think the more complex commands are relayed to a server instead of parsed locally.
- makomk 9y agoLow-power DSP chip, I believe. For more complex tasks like voice recognition it generally makes sense to use something that at least resembles a general-purpose CPU.
- Karunamon 9y agoThe Echo lets you choose from a few wake words, but it takes a restart to change so I’m guessing there’s a firmware update implied with doing it.
- mahyarm 9y agoThey do. Echo, Amazon & Computer :p
- Slippery_John 9y agoEcho lets you choose from a small list of names. I've got one that responds to "computer" for instance.
- rwc 9y agoSiri isn't triggered by TV in the same way. Take a look at last week's keynote where Phil Schiller says "Hey Siri" on stage and takes a pause to note nobody's phone was activated by his voice.
- gaius 9y agoYep, my wife's iPhone won't respond to me, and vice versa. We can use our Siris at the same time in the same room with no interference
- banku_brougham 9y agoMy wife's iPhone has responded to me occasionally, but she doesn't at all.
- caseysoftware 9y agoThis would be genius and brutal all at once. I love it.