4 ms·
The simple solution: switch off the code that listens for the “Alexa” prompt when saying “Alexa” yourself. Slightly harder: keep it running, but discard hits t
by Someone 2y ago
The simple solution: switch off the code that listens for the “Alexa” prompt when saying “Alexa” yourself.
Slightly harder: keep it running, but discard hits that are timed close to the time you say “Alexa” yourself.
Even harder: have a second detector that is trained on the device saying “Alexa”, and discard hits that coincide with that detector firing. That second detector can be simplified by superimposing a waveform that humans will (barely) notice but that is easily detected by a computer on top of the audio whenever the device says “Alexa”.
Still harder: obtain the transfer function and latency between the speaker(s) and its microphone(s) and, using that, compute what signal you expect to hear at the microphone from the speaker’s output, and subtract that from the actual signal detected to get a signal that doesn’t include one’s one utterances.
That function could be obtained from one device in the factory or trained on-device.
I suspect the first already is close to good enough for basic devices. If you want a device that can listen whilexalso playing music at volume, the last option can be helpful.
- matheist 2y agoTransfer function would need to be learned online because room reverberations contribute a lot.
- throwaway211 2y agoCould two Alexas be put next to each other hailing themselves into eternity.
- brookst 2y agoI’ve always wanted to write a hit pop song called “hey Alexa, order twenty pounds of sand”. Only a complete lack of hit songwriting ability has stopped me.
- jaredsohn 2y agoLLMs can do this for you (although no guarantee it will be a hit)
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- yial 2y ago*Verse 1:* Woke up this morning with a plan in my head, Gonna build a castle, need a lot of sand, Grabbed my phone, started to command, Hey Alexa, can you lend a hand? *Pre-Chorus:* I’m feeling like a kid again, Dreaming of the seaside, In my living room, I’ll make my own tide. *Chorus:* Hey Alexa, order twenty pounds of sand, We’ll turn my place into a beachy wonderland, Dancing barefoot, got the sun in our hands, Hey Alexa, won’t you understand? *Verse 2:* Neighbors think I’m crazy, but they don’t know, I’ve got the waves crashing, the good vibes flow, With a little magic from my techy friend, We’re surfing in the living room, it’ll never end. *Pre-Chorus:* Turn up the heat, let’s make it bright, With a pinch of paradise, Every day feels like a summer night. *Chorus:* Hey Alexa, order twenty pounds of sand, We’ll turn my place into a beachy wonderland, Dancing barefoot, got the sun in our hands, Hey Alexa, won’t you understand? *Bridge:* Building castles, making dreams, Feeling free, it’s the ultimate scheme, With every grain, we’re setting the scene, Life is better when it’s sandy and serene. *Chorus:* Hey Alexa, order twenty pounds of sand, We’ll turn my place into a beachy wonderland, Dancing barefoot, got the sun in our hands, Hey Alexa, won’t you understand? *Outro:* So next time you’re dreaming of the shore, Just remember what Alexa’s for, A little voice can bring the beach to your door, Hey Alexa, we’re ready for more.
- toomuchtodo 2y agohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESt7CTZiXqY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESt7CTZiXqY (NSFW)
- JoBrad 2y agoI’ve interrupted my Echo with “Alexa, stop” or “Alexa <repeated phrase more clearly or louder>” while it is speaking. So it doesn’t stop listening when speaking.
- kQq9oHeAz6wLLS 2y agoIt could stop listening only when it's saying the word "Alexa", or even just part of that word, and listen the rest of the time.
- Krastan 2y agoStop listening only when saying "Alexa" not just when speaking in general. So to test you'd have to time saying Alexa at the same time it is saying Alexa
- stavros 2y agoThey'll definitely do some cancelation of the signal they're sending, you can't really hear people saying commands over your own music otherwise.
- davidmurdoch 2y agoWouldn't it be simpler to add noise above 20kHz and ignore the key phrase if the noise is present?
- sgc 2y agoThat was my thought as well. Just use some form of acoustical fingerprinting. It would be very simple to do, and would be both robust and flexible.
- lazide 2y agoEven simpler is subtract any sound (and associated echoes) output through the speaker from any input received from the microphone.
- colanderman 2y agoEcho cancellation is much more complex than tone squelching, which is simple enough to be implemented in the analog domain.
- brazzy 2y agoEcho cancellation was implemented in the analog domain 50 years ago at the least. It's wild to see someone assume this kind of thing requires machine learning algorithms.
- lazide 2y agoI'm guessing they were (rightfully) pointing out it's still harder than just ignoring any input if there is a given tone. Which yeah, it is. I'm assuming they'd prefer to use that for things like advertisements though, since the cancellation approach lets them ‘listen’ while still talking/playing music/etc.
- xx-bean-xx 2y agono, because that 20+khz noise would be lost in any 44khz signal processing. you would have to guarantee the audio player is capable of higher bitrates