
Voice Assistant? Yes please, but not in public - Gys
http://creativestrategies.com/voice-assistant-anyone-yes-please-but-not-in-public/
======
dsfyu404ed
I find voice assistants rather underwhelming. I tend to lob them really
specific questions they should be able to answer like.

"call $business_thats_part_of_a_national_chain in $town $state." That's a
batting practice pitch right over the plate. The "in $town $state" tells it to
use Google maps search. From there it should have no problem finding the
business and phone number. Instead it tells me "here's what we found for
$business in $town $state." Of course the first result is the business I'm
looking for and I can find and call the number somewhere on the page but it's
almost easier to just Google it directly.

The only time I'm willing to put up with this is when I'm driving and want to
minimize interaction with the phone.

Maybe nobody uses them in public because it's faster, more precise and less
obnoxious to type.

Looking up car parts would be nice ( "does $chain_store in $town have
$partnum" and "$other_chain_stire in $next_town_over have $partnum") is
hilariously easy from a implementation perspective since everything but
slapping the voice recognition on top and mapping key words to software
commands has been solved for a long time. (e.g.
[http://showmetheparts.com/](http://showmetheparts.com/)).

~~~
transpy
When I watched the Google Home video from the I/O event, I cringed very hard.
And I am not a skeptic: I generally am a believer in new tech, in natural
language tech, etc., but that video looked really goofy and improbable. Do
they really think that families are going to change their morning routines to
interact via voice with a device? Just the "Hello Google" command is awkward
enough, people aren't going to walk down the street while talking nerdy Google
commands out loud. I don't see it happening.

And from a foreign language speaker standpoint, I find it even harder to
imagine. In Spanish there is not really a consensus about how to pronounce
'Google'. I can't imagine people on the streets speaking Googlish.

On the other hand, everyone googles, for sure, everyone uses search and
mobile. I have the feeling that these two interactions -text/type search and
mobile- are too hard to improve on. I don't think voice has a chance to become
bigger than text.

~~~
stvswn
Have you observed anyone interact with Alexa? I have, and it seems like people
really love it. So, is there a big difference between Alexa and Google Home
that you find dealbreaking, or do you challenge the notion that Alexa has been
successful?

~~~
transpy
I haven't. I would like to try it out, maybe I will check the browser
emulation they released a couple of weeks ago. I would like to try it both in
English and Spanish and compare the experiences.

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ilanco
I'm surprised they didn't mention that in areas with a lot of background
noise, eg public places, voice recognition doesn't work as well. I think that
is also a reason why people refrain from using it in public. From personal
experience I can say it's very frustrating to repeat the command to your phone
multiple times because it's sorry it didn't get that, or calls your ex
girlfriend instead of playing some music.

~~~
durzagott
My experience is totally opposite. I've found Google voice search very
effective, even in a crowded bar. When I listen to some the recordings that
were successful[1], I'm frankly amazed at what a good job it does.

1\.
[https://history.google.com/history/audio](https://history.google.com/history/audio)

~~~
grkvlt
That URL is the most amazing thing I have ever seen! Unfortunately, it does
not convince me of the power of speech operated interfaces. My history tends
to consist of a series of multi-part voice commands with the first or second
phrase being repeated multiple times, in progressively more angry tones of
voice, until it seems I give up. It looks like the most common thing I do,
interestingly, is set timers for myself.

The most hilarious clip I found was one where Google had transcribed the
request as "bbbbbbb bbbbbbb bbbbbbb" and on playing it back, I heard the sound
of my alarm clock going off with a steady beep, beep, beep...!

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stouset
One aspect which drives me nuts about using Siri in public, is her inability
to match my own volume. Often I'm in a relatively quiet office, or somewhere
else where shouting would be inappropriate. I bring the phone close to my
mouth and speak my command softly.

At the loudest volume setting, Siri replies "ALRIGHT, STEPHEN, I'LL REMIND YOU
TO WHATEVER WHATEVER".

The _one_ feature that would get me to use Siri more is if she would speak
more quietly!

~~~
thenewwazoo
I'm about to make your day, twice.

1: You can adjust the Siri app's volume the same way you can any other.
Activate Siri, and then use the volume rocker button to adjust it up/down.

2: You can turn off voice responses altogether! In Settings>General>Siri,
change "Voice Feedback" to "handsfree only". Now Siri will stay completely
silent if you activate it with the home button ("Hey Siri" is hands-free, so
you still get voice responses there).

~~~
stouset
As promised, you made my day. Thank you!

------
post_break
In public I want a reverse voice assistant. Think the movie Her but I don't
have to talk back. I want hardware that is in my ear but still lets me hear
normally. New text message spoken to me, same for email, calendar, etc. I
don't want to even have to look at my phone to get information, and I want it
to be invisible. Augmented, I didn't ask for this, well actually I did.

~~~
chrisdbaldwin
The technology to achieve custom molded Bluetooth earbuds like you're
describing has been around for a few years, but no one is making them. There
are a few startups and old dogs (hearing aid industry) trying to move into the
space, but damn are they slow to the punch. I certainly blame Apple for
locking down Bluetooth LE and not releasing a product.

~~~
RubenSandwich
Can you be more specific on how Apple locked down Bluetooth LE? From my
understanding it was accepted into the Bluetooth 4.0 standard in 2010 and has
since seen widespread adoption in Bluetooth devices.

~~~
chrisdbaldwin
"Accessories that use only Bluetooth Low Energy (BTLE) (note: BTLE-enabled
HomeKit accessories and BTLE-enabled MFi Hearing Aids are part of the MFi
Program)"

(MFi = made for iPhone)
[https://mfi.apple.com/MFiWeb/getFAQ.action#1-2](https://mfi.apple.com/MFiWeb/getFAQ.action#1-2)
[https://developer.apple.com/bluetooth/](https://developer.apple.com/bluetooth/)

Have fun with MIDI quality. The only way BTLE is sending mp3 or higher quality
is through the MFi Hearing aid protocol Apple owns and keeps under wraps.

------
stanmancan
As soon as I got my Apple Watch, I started using voice assistants way more;
both in private and public. "Hey Siri remind me to ___ at (location or
date/time). "Hey Siri, set an alarm at ____". "Hey Siri, how many grams in 3
ounces?" "Hey Siri, set a timer for 25 minutes".

Also, a couple of months ago I enabled the "Listen for 'Hey Siri' when plugged
in" option on my iPhone and it's been super helpful. My phones typically
plugged in right infront of me when I'm working, as well as in the car. I use
it frequently to start a phone call "Hey siri call ___" and it works
wonderfully. It works WAY better than the hands-free setting in my car.

Car:

    
    
      **Press Button**
      Me: Call Home
      **3 second pause**
      Car: Calling Home at Home, is this correct?
      Me: Yes
      Car: Dialing....
      **2 second pause while it initiates the dial**
    

Siri:

    
    
      Hey Siri call home
      **dials**

------
ocdtrekkie
I ponder if some day even our in-home voice assistant should be aware of this.
Like, I was thinking if a guest is there, my voice assistant should know. My
voice assistant might respond differently in that context. Like providing less
detailed information in voice responses.

There's probably even ways a home assistant could also specifically help my
guests. It could know where I store things they might need, like cups, plates,
and silverware. Or be able to tell them where my bathroom is.

~~~
kasparsklavins
You should watch Black Mirror's christmas special

~~~
ocdtrekkie
I have sadly not seen all of Black Mirror yet. I love everything I've seen of
it, and will definitely finish watching it this summer.

~~~
kasparsklavins
Finish? hah. Netflix has announced they will make 12 more episodes for season
3.

~~~
ocdtrekkie
Glad to hear more is coming. It didn't seem to be the case when I first found
it. I think I've only watched either three or four episodes so far.

------
bwooceli
I actually really like "OK Google", but my reasons for using or not using in
particular contexts are not at all what the author here states. Invariably,
the about 1 second after I say "OK Google" or hit the mic on the search
screen, some knucklehead (or one of my kids) starts talking in the background
making my search useless. Background noise is a killjoy. I don't want to be
the guy repeating the same thing louder and more clearly over and over in the
food court. I have no problem using it "in front of people", I just have no
faith that it will work.

~~~
zippergz
Invariably, if I talk to Siri when my wife is nearby, she immediately says,
"what?" and it frequently confuses Siri.

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tvanantwerp
I'm always "OK, Google"ing at my Android Wear watch at work. I've been doing
this for a year or so, and at no point has anyone gotten used to it. They all
still look at me like I'm a little crazy.

Of course, when the voice recognition completely botches what I asked of it
and I get frustrated trying to make it work right, I probably do look crazy.

~~~
squid_ca
Having had the same experience at my work (but from the other side), they
possibly don't think you are crazy but would just like you to shut the fuck
up.

~~~
hammock
"Corporate accounts payable, Nina speaking. Just a moment."

~~~
mdorazio
This is entirely different since the person speaking your example has to speak
that out loud as part of their job. Talking out loud to Siri or Google is
absolutely not necessary in an office setting. Both are annoying, but only one
is avoidable (and thus rude).

------
dharma1
Once speaking to a voice assistant is as accurate as talking to a human on the
phone, why not. It'll look like/be as anti-social as a normal phone call. Fine
on the street, probably not in a crowded train or in the office.

Where it gets annoying currently is repeating OK Google/Alexa/Siri five times,
then repeating what you want the damn thing to do another four times, each
time a bit louder.

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rvanmil
Voice assistants are the new bluetooth headsets. They are not socially
acceptable most of the time. Personally, I only use Siri in my car as a last
resort (I think CarPlay is amazing; I don't use my built-in car software
anymore). I think talking to a device is awkward and starting a "conversation"
by yelling "Hey Siri" is even worse, it feels embarrassing.

------
jpalomaki
This came to my mind:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Throat_microphone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Throat_microphone)

Obviously for everyday, casual use that would require some design work. Maybe
integrate that to jacket or shirt, if the hardware is not too expensive.
Bluetooth for communications. Battery is a bit of a problem, having to
constantly charge my jacket is not something I would like to do. Maybe there
would be some opportunities to build it so that it would not be active all the
time.

Or maybe one should actually rethink the whole concept. Maybe it would be
better to just capture the vibrations from few places around the throat and
then use machine learning to make sense of them instead of trying to use the
traditional speech recognition.

~~~
jpalomaki
"A set of electrodes are attached to the skin of the throat and, without
opening the mouth or uttering a sound, the words are recognized by a
computer."
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subvocal_recognition](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subvocal_recognition)

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milge
I've tried OK Google recently under my motorcycle helmet just to change music.
It wasn't up to the task. Somehow The Google Music unchecked the downloaded
music only, and OK google played radio racking up a few hundred MB of data
before I could change it. It didn't work when all I was saying was next song.
I went back to using the bluetooth button I was using before.

~~~
codebeaker
Could you share a product link for whatever bluetooth button you were using,
that sounds like a product I've wished existed for a long time and failed to
find in the market. I remember an old wireless/30-pin connector for my iPod
that had a weather-proof armband with controls from the company iMonster a
long long time ago that I loved, but snapped many a connector off in my
leathers!

~~~
milge
[https://www.amazon.com/Satechi®-Bluetooth-Button-iPhone-
Sams...](https://www.amazon.com/Satechi®-Bluetooth-Button-iPhone-
Samsung/dp/B00RM75NL0)

This is the one you want. I'm on my second now from losing the first. It comes
with a handlebar mount but mine were too thin. I layered up some electrical
tape and the holder works even at high speeds.

------
okla
I was always wondering – isn't it better to make usage of voice assistant
similar to simple phone call? Why it should be in speaker mode?

~~~
andrewaylett
If you activate Google's voice recognition from a bluetooth headset, it will
respond to you through the headset -- but you often have to interact with the
device anyway, to get it to do more than the most simple of things.

~~~
notatoad
You also have to be wearing a bluetooth headset, which is as much of a social
faux pas as talking to siri in public.

~~~
andrewaylett
I have Bluetooth headphones, which I'm wearing at the moment as I'm listening
to music. They're pretty good at the headset thing too.

------
kleiba
> The high proportion of usage in the car would suggest it has more to do with
> the hands-free law that regulate driving and texting vs. a free choice by
> consumers to embrace this technology.

I doubt this conclusion. For one, given how many people I see everyday driving
while holding a smartphone to their ear, it does not seem that too many people
are concerned with that particular law. Couldn't it be instead that driving is
a situation where not _having_ to use your hands is perceived as an actual
benefit?

------
btbuildem
I found one good use for Siri so far: as a calculator. Much easier to say
"square root of seventeen times five-eights?" than find the calculator app and
key that in there.

~~~
mikestew
Yup, use it every time I fill up one of our vehicles to check MPG.

"Hey, Siri, what's 174 miles divided by 12 gallons?"

"Some pretty shitty mileage, mikestew. You should consider driving the Leaf
more often."

~~~
mikeash
It's funny you mention that, the cheekiness is one of the things that bugs me
about Siri. Seems like every time I ask about the current temperature (one of
my most common uses), Siri has to add some sort of snide comment about how hot
or cold it is. It's cute the first hundred times, but then it gets old. I
think it's to the point now where it actually makes me use it less because I
just don't want to hear it.

~~~
mikestew
Your point stands, and the cheekiness gets to me a after a while as well, but
let me be clear that I embellished a little, as she really just says "14.5".
If Siri were as clever as I described, I might not mind it as much.

~~~
mikeash
Right, I know it's not _that_ cheeky, but it reminded me of the real comments.

I agree that it would be better if she were that clever. Part of the problem
is that it's just so predictable. Whenever it's above room temperature, she'll
say "Hot!" If it's below room temperature, she'll say "Brr." Some variety
would really help.

~~~
mikestew
Yup, if I can imagine the if/switch statement that was written to get that
response, then they shouldn't bother.

    
    
        NSSiriResponse *response = [NSSiriResponse new];
        if (currentTemp < roomTemp) {
            // Randomly select a response from the pre-determined list
            response = responses.lookup(kCOLD_TEMP_RESPONSE);
        else {
            response = responses.lookup(kHOT_TEMP_RESPONSE);
        }
        [response speak];
    

I can't say that we've made giant steps since Eliza. :-)

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rocky1138
To be honest, I'm not even interested in them in private.

Interfacing with a computer via voice is painful. Give me a keyboard any day.

------
vmarsy
I don't like using voice assistants in public as much as I don't like talking
on the phone in public: it's loud around so I wouldn't hear the voice
feedback, I don't like disturbing people around... However I use cortana on my
phone all the time in public by typing my sentance instead of saying it out
loud. I assume siri and ok Google let you do this as well, otherwise how do
people with speaking/hearing disability use these assistants in general?

------
Frqy3
Similarly, I hope that voice interfaces don't become popular in open plan
office environments.

------
werber
I use Siri constantly, to remind me to check pages the next day, timers while
cooking, setting alarms, for playing basically anything via Apple Music or a
quick search. But people are constantly weirded out. "Why are you reminding
yourself to hot glue the thing with the stuff when you get home", well, so it
comes up to remind me when I get home...

------
JimmyAustin
Why not a quick instant open keyboard when the user holds down the home button
(not sure what the Android equivalent is)? Have it suspend voice recognition
if the user is typing so the user doesnt have to manually select an option.
Then feed the results into the same NLP as used by the voice stuff, and bobs
your uncle.

~~~
Nullabillity
Google Now _kind of_ supports this. To activate the assistant thingy, you hold
down the home button and press the mic icon. But in the same screen there are
also suggestions based on what's on the screen (for example, if I'm looking at
a forum where someone's talking about an album it'll suggest finding it on
Spotify), as well as a plain Google search box.

------
AstralStorm
Pity we don't have a reasonably accurate subvocal technology ready for public
use.

~~~
ntumlin
Do you mean whispering? I just tried whispering to my phone and it got it
perfectly.

~~~
mikeash
Subvocalization is your "internal me," the not-sound you make when you talk to
yourself.

Apparently this internal voice actually results in some muscle movements, and
it's thought that with the right sensors and software it would be possible to
recognize it as speech. Nobody has quite gotten it to work yet, though.

------
return0
I think we should halt development of voice assistants , and focus on how to
make a brain implant. It clearly solves a lot of problems.

