Amazon and Google have a good understanding of the built-in microphones. If you stand 20 feet away from the speaker and say “turn the thermostat up one degree”, then these smart speakers hear and understand what you are saying, even with music playing in the room. This is an essential quality, as research shows that people mostly use home speakers to turn music on or off. In other words, despite music playing, the sound of the television or other distracting noise, the speaker must understand you. The speed at which they pick up commands and respond is very impressive, but sometimes also a little frustrating. You must always start voice commands with “Alexa” or “Ok Google,” and then ask your question “What’s the weather like in London?”. Within two seconds your question has been processed in the cloud and you have an answer, thanks to the use of Artifi cial Intelligence. But despite how clever it is, sometimes home speakers can also be very limited in understanding your question. For example, Google Home understands “Show the best cooking videos on YouTube,” but struggles with the question: “Show YouTube Best Cooking Videos.” It takes some adjusting to the understanding of the home speakers, but once you know how to do it, it really makes life easier. Lost in Translation Very Smart they are, but home speakers are not multilingual yet. The current Smart Home Speakers can only understand English and specifi cally American English. And just like humans, they struggle sometimes to understand certain accents. The power of the underlying Artifi cial Intelligence, however, is that it learns continuously and with time becomes smoother and other languages will also be understood. One thing is for sure, Smart Home speakers are here to stay. This is in contrary to many other Tech hypes that did not live up to their expectations such as 3D televisions and smart watches. The success of Amazon’s Echo and the Google Home now shows that it’s only a matter of time before Smart Home speakers will be a must have for almost every living room. This is a massive opportunity for marketers to be involved in a game changer and get their brand in front of a vast consumer market. 22- CONTINEW
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