One of the most exciting and rapidly developing areas of this innovation is in the use voice recognition technology. Speech recognition itself is nothing too new or radical. The technology has been around since the 1950s, and has had commercial applications since 1967.
But the recent massive strides in technological sophistication and the falling costs of producing the relevant microchips have led to an increase in the potential of speech recognition, in everything from smartening up smartphones to dumping down everyday chores.
Text-to-speech conversion, for example, was never a big hit in the days of desktops, but a great fit with tablet computing, where old-fashioned typing takes longer and smudges up the display. Starting with the 2.1, all Android-based tablets have a built in text-to speech converter, allowing users to speak into any app that can by typed into, including the ability to delete and backspace.
The same technology is available on smartphones too; there’s even new chips in development to enable passive listening for smartphones, so you’ll be able to wake up a sleeping device from across the room, have it open apps and accomplish tasks hands-free, or even call out to a lost device and hear a response.
One of the boldest products being developed in this area is iSpeech, a voice-control home interface that can synch up with TVs, washing machines, alarms and central heating, something that tech critics have long thought of as a holy grail for saving the user from having to repeat the training process outlined above for every new piece of tech they get, and streamlining the whole process.
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It’s the first step toward actualizing what developers have been discussing for years: a ‘smart-home’ system, whereby voice commands can be picked up from any point in the house and wirelessly transmitted to the correct device.
As of this writing there’s a lot to iron out in terms of parsing open-ended commands before this can be made an actuality, but the technology is all in development to essentially turn your home into a computerized butler.
Convenience isn’t the only benefit of the technology. iSpeech is also great for running an entertainment center, as it can sync up with your hi-fi system and your TV - which beats cycling through stations on a remote when you have several thousand channels and only a few dozen that you watch.
As with any technological advance, the potential of innovating changes in entertainment culture is huge - just how the Kinect and Wii are turning motion detection into a new and burgeoning horizon in gaming.
Rumor has it that Microsoft is beefing up their speech recognition hardware for inclusion in their next console, which means you can use your voice in gaming beyond just hurling slurs at teenagers over Xbox Live.
So, whether it’s in cutting down on the time it takes to run a home, or in taking things like gaming and interactive TV to the next level, speech recognition looks set to be the next frontier in home appliances.
Are there any upcoming speech-related devices you’re feeling hyped about, or innovations you’d like to see? Then why not drop us a comment and let us know?
Ed HitchmanAbout the Guest Author:
Ed Hitchman is a blogger and writer who has been speaking to household objects and devices for years, and is thrilled to hear that one day they may respond to him. He writes for Softel Group.
