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Google Home Now Recognizes Specific Users' Voices, Gains Support For Multiple Accounts (phonedog.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the full-potential-reached dept.

Google has issued a long-awaited feature for Google Home: support for multiple users. In an update rolling out today, up to six people will be able to connect their Google account to a Google Home, and the unit will try to distinguish each person's voice from the other users connected to the device. Therefore, each person will be able to get access to their schedule, playlists, and more. PhoneDog reports: Support for multiple users is rolling out in the U.S. now and will be available in the U.K. in the coming months. To know if the feature is available to you, launch the Google Home app and look for a card that says "Multi-user is available." You can also click the icon in the upper right corner, find your Google Home, and select "Link your account." From there, you'll train the Google Assistant to recognize your voice so that it knows it's you when you're talking and not the other people with connected accounts. You'll say "Ok Google" and "Hey Google" twice each.

26 of 48 comments (clear)

  1. One question by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 3, Funny

    Is the "Burger King" user pre-installed?

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    #DeleteChrome
    1. Re:One question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      More like, was the Burger King ad campaign done in collusion with Google as stealth advertising for this new Google Home feature which must have been in development at the time.

  2. Re:That is 6x more tracking and customized ads by kamapuaa · · Score: 2, Insightful

    All right! A stupid Burger King joke and now an inane "Fools! You are being spied on by the NSA!" comment. Hopefully comments can now move on to something interesting.

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    Slashdot: providing anti-social weirdos a soapbox, since 1997.
  3. Yeah, let's get voiceprints for everyone ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Does anyone stop to think that Google could be a front for the NSA or other government entities and that many of these Google
    projects could involve ulterior motives ?

    Not that a government capable of things such as the Tuskegee Study or MK-Ultra or the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
    could possibly have evil intent, of course.

    1. Re:Yeah, let's get voiceprints for everyone ... by rholtzjr · · Score: 1

      Of course not. Our government would NEVER lie to us!

    2. Re:Yeah, let's get voiceprints for everyone ... by Actually,+I+do+RTFA · · Score: 1

      Does anyone stop to think that Google could be a front for the NSA

      No. Why would they risk the (currently theoretical, but may someday happen) Congressional oversight on data use. As a private company, they have way more ability to abuse your data. And, if they ever wanted the NSA to fuck up your life, they could instead forward selected bits to them.

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  4. Re:That is 6x more tracking and customized ads by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    All right! A stupid Burger King joke and now an inane "Fools! You are being spied on by the NSA!" comment. Hopefully comments can now move on to something interesting.

    Let's not forget the arrogant dismissal comments written by clueless poseur cunts like you.

  5. 1984 was not an instruction manual by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 1

    Just saying, Google.

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    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
  6. Re:That is 6x more tracking and customized ads by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Personally I think Alexa, for all its obvious faults, is the most personally useful computer innovation I've seen since Smartphone GPS got decent. If Google Home is about the same thing, then certainly it isn't pointless or just a forum for advertisements.

  7. Slight problem by slashmydots · · Score: 1

    This discriminates against identical twins. Lawsuit pending. This is not a serious post.

  8. Good luck with that by manu0601 · · Score: 1

    The home is a place where brothers and sisters with really similar voices can live together. Since some parents have trouble distinguishing their children's voices, Google will have a hard time there.

    1. Re:Good luck with that by BradleyUffner · · Score: 1

      Ohhh wow, I bet Google never thought of that! You should email them right away and let them know.

    2. Re: Good luck with that by FrankHaynes · · Score: 1

      His family incests on the very best!

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      slashdot: A failed experiment.
    3. Re: Good luck with that by Bodhammer · · Score: 1

      "Google, make an appointment for a photo shoot at that place that sells gut bombs, the Aloha Snackbar."

      What could go wrong?

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      "I say we take off, nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."
    4. Re:Good luck with that by Cro+Magnon · · Score: 1

      Yeah, I've noticed that my mom and my aunt sound a lot alike.

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      Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
    5. Re:Good luck with that by manu0601 · · Score: 1

      Ohhh wow, I bet Google never thought of that! You should email them right away and let them know.

      I never thought they could be unaware of the challenge. I am just skeptical about their chances of doing something that really works here.

  9. What if your voice changes? by risc8088 · · Score: 2

    Does it work if your voice changes due to having a cold? Does it work if you whisper? If you yell? Just curious.

    Sure I could probably google these questions but the tech is too new and does anyone else feel like its harder and harder to get the right info from google nowadays? For example I don't want results from 2011 at the top of the list when i'm searching for new tech stuff!! Eh I'm probably just bad at googling. Theres probably a shitload of google search commands that I dont know about. meh :|

  10. Open the pod bay doors, Google by FrankHaynes · · Score: 1

    I'm sorry, Dave. I can't do that.

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    slashdot: A failed experiment.
    1. Re:Open the pod bay doors, Google by coofercat · · Score: 1

      ...and no more "Hey Google - call an ambulance as this guy's having a heart attack" either.

      We're really at version 0.9 of this sort of tech. First they need to distinguish between a few known voices per device. Then they need to distinguish *every* voice, and not sorry which device those voices were heard on. Then they need to be able to act intelligently for any unknown voices - of course, one man's 'intelligent response' is another's 'complete bollocks'. After all that, they need to actually be able to do something useful - really useful like "Hey Google, hold my calls unless they're important" - a human can do that quite easily, but it'll be a while before computers can. When they can though, we might be at v1.0. It's okay, I can wait ;-)

    2. Re:Open the pod bay doors, Google by Dupedupeshakur · · Score: 1

      ...and no more "Hey Google - call an ambulance as this guy's having a heart attack" either.

      We're really at version 0.9 of this sort of tech. First they need to distinguish between a few known voices per device. Then they need to distinguish *every* voice, and not sorry which device those voices were heard on. Then they need to be able to act intelligently for any unknown voices - of course, one man's 'intelligent response' is another's 'complete bollocks'. After all that, they need to actually be able to do something useful - really useful like "Hey Google, hold my calls unless they're important" - a human can do that quite easily, but it'll be a while before computers can. When they can though, we might be at v1.0. It's okay, I can wait ;-)

      Based on the product road map you've laid out, they would currently be closer to 0.1 than 0.9. Voice recognition has been around a long time. Cloud computing has just helped make it "smarter" by allowing multiple recognition engines to be run in parallel, with the most confident engine's interpretation being selected.

  11. My pixel has had this since I got it. by smbell · · Score: 1

    I'm surprised this is a new feature for the Home. Although it's not fool proof. It recognizes my older son as me most of the time.

  12. The big question by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 1

    If the Google Home doesn't identify a command as coming from any of the voices it "knows", does it ignore the input or does it follow the command anyway?

    It should do the former, but I'm betting on the latter.

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    #DeleteChrome
    1. Re:The big question by Dupedupeshakur · · Score: 1

      Sounds like it should be a configurable option - defaulted to security over usability.

  13. Re:This is freaking impressive by Bodhammer · · Score: 1

    More Cake for the NSA! Yea!

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    "I say we take off, nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."
  14. Re:That is 6x more tracking and customized ads by Hylandr · · Score: 1

    The Internet? A free and open platform for the sharing of ideas and free speech?

    There is no free speech anywhere on the Internet. The SJWs shut that down completely.

    Remove your digital 'footprint' and move to another state, or you're at risk of being attacked for the most minor of 'micro-aggressions'.

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    ~ People that think they are better than anyone else for any reason are the cause of all the strife in the world.
  15. Echo versus GH implmentation by jacksmith21006 · · Score: 1

    The Echo has a code you use for different accounts and the Google Home (GH) just uses your voice.

    The Echo is really more of a computer interface and has you do the work and the GH is intelligent and far more human in how it does things.

    Really love the voice authentication with the GH as it makes so many use cases now possible.

    For example, in our home I prefer some of my kids to be unable to lower the AC thermostat. Now I can have some able to when they ask the GH in the kitchen and others are not able to. But no awkward passcodes, etc.

    The other is I am fine with guest able to do some things and then others I only want "privileged" users to be able to do. With the Echo it was trivial for people to learn the passcode. Now with the GH I say it and it will work and they say it and it will not.

    But everything is like this with the GH versus the Echo. A huge one is the Echo has commands you memorize and the GH you just talk to it like a human.

    So a little kid can use the GH as well as a grandma. Kind of like Google Search. Same text box for a 5 year old as a rocket scientist as well as grandma. Exactly how technology should be. Why on earth should we still have to use passcodes?

    Amazon needs to replace the foundation of the Echo to have intelligence if they want to be competitive.