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Source: Diageo
We've all wanted to whip up cool cocktails when we have friends over. Google has always been somewhat helpful with recipes, but when it comes to drinks, most need a more visual instruction. So we turn to YouTube, only to find ourselves frantically tapping the screen to pause and replay the video with what we hope is the least sticky finger.
In 1983, a three-year experiment began. Trained observers sat in 40 homes of rich and poor families to record hours of babbling between the parents and their babies. Researchers at the University of Kansas set up this ambitious project to investigate whether the language parents use during the earliest years of their child's life affected their academic success later on.
Brands tend to run into the same kind of trouble when publishing voice experiences. Some can't find real users to test in real-world contexts, others are lost on best practices for voice, and most simply don't know how to seamlessly integrate voice into their user journey.
From Star Trek to Spiderman, AI voices in film have been predominantly female. Yes, Hollywood has graced us with a few male voices too, like HAL 9000 and JARVIS. Although one was disturbingly evil and the other was later replaced by FRIDAY, a female voice. (So not really much choice there either.)
Not all voice experiences are good experiences. Some voice apps struggle to understand local accents, others are out of touch with the current lingo, and most customer service bots test your patience until you're yelling, "Put me through to a human, please!"
Don't you just hate it when something really cool isn't available in your country?
Credit: HelixAI
"Alexa, what's the solubility of sodium hydroxide?"
"Sorry, I don't know that one."
It's okay, Alexa, neither do we. But not to worry, one Atlanta-based startup is working to change that with their own science-savvy virtual assistant: Helix.
There is an art to reading a book to a child. You pace your every word, pause at exactly the right moments, and maybe even read their favorite parts one more time. If you're in the mood, you even give each character their own voice and add your own sound effects for the wind whooshing through the trees and the duck quacking in a pond.
Voice technology in the military is a sensitive subject. Nobody wants to think about how the benevolent tech helping patients track their meds and supporting children with dyslexia may also be aiding deadly attacks in foreign countries.
But if we're to touch on all the fields where voice tech is making a difference, then the military should be no exception. Besides, highlighting the uses of voice in warfare may inspire new ideas on how voice can help the people caught in the midst of it.
