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The Coming Wave of Gadgets That Listen and Obey

Posted by Soulskill on from the tea-earl-grey-hot dept.

dgan brings us a NYTimes piece about the development of speech recognition for common gadgets. Companies such as Vlingo and Yap are marketing their software to cellular carriers to give consumers a hands-free option for tasks like finding directions and text messaging. Quoting: "Vlingo's service lets people talk naturally, rather than making them use a limited number of set phrases. Dave Grannan, the company's chief executive, demonstrated the Vlingo Find application by asking his phone for a song by Mississippi John Hurt (try typing that with your thumbs), for the location of a local bakery and for a Web search for a consumer product. It was all fast and efficient. Vlingo is designed to adapt to the voice of its primary user, but I was also able to use Mr. Grannan's phone to find an address. The Find application is in the beta test phase at AT&T and Sprint. Consumers who use certain cellphones from those companies can download the application from vlingo.com."

9 of 98 comments (clear)

  1. It may finally happen. by moogied · · Score: 4, Funny
    5,000 years ago man relized it could not make women listen and obey. So he started a quest to make devices that could..

    Is it possible that all of mankinds dreams are coming true now?!

    --
    So basically, -1 troll/offtopic is really slashdots way of saying "I hate that you thought of something before me."
    1. Re:It may finally happen. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      I for one welcome our new... er wait, that doesn't quite work here does it?

  2. All I can think of is... by bennomatic · · Score: 4, Funny
    "Open the pod bay doors, HAL."

    "I'm afraid I can't do that, Dave."

    --
    The CB App. What's your 20?
    1. Re:All I can think of is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      http://www.xkcd.com/375/

  3. Fun with Gadgets by Knave75 · · Score: 3, Funny

    User: Please connect me with Hugh Jass
    Gadget: Sorry, I could not find a Hugh Jass
    User: *snicker*

  4. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 5, Funny

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  5. Re:I wonder... by lgw · · Score: 5, Funny

    I can't get over this "hands free text messaging" option! What engineer had the insight "we need to give customers a way to communicate over the phone just by talking"? It's a strange world.

    --
    Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
  6. Re:Limited phrasebook by Dachannien · · Score: 2, Funny

    Instead, we should invent plot-directed recognition technology. I mean, you never see the computer on Star Trek misinterpreting the zillions of conversations as being directed toward it. Why? Because it would bog down the plot, except for those rare occasions where it's funny.

    Same thing applies to the doors. The doors know exactly when someone is going to walk through them, because they are plot-directed. You can stand mere inches away from a door, facing it, but until the plot indicates that the time for you to go through has arrived, they won't budge.

  7. Re:Limited phrasebook by niceone · · Score: 3, Funny

    "Honey, have you seen the remote?"

    Phone: Yeah, sure, it's cute enough, but I think I can do better.

    --
    ccalam - acoustic versions of new songs.