Hasta La Gadget!

When it comes to digital assistants, it’s obvious that Siri could stand to be improved upon. Now according to researchers from Apple and Carnegie Mellon University’s Human-Computer Interaction Institute, they have recently published a paper that suggests that one of the ways these improvements could be made is by mapping out the room.

Mapping a room isn’t new and we have seen it done by smart devices like robot vacuum cleaners and also Apple’s HomePod speaker. However, the paper suggests that this could also be done using digital assistants like Siri, where through a series of questions, Siri could get an idea of the sounds that are being emitted around it in order to better understand user requests while also being able to volunteer more accurate and relevant information.

For example, it could pick up on sounds like the microwave and doorbell, and when users confirm the sound, it would then be able to learn what those sounds are. So whenever the microwave is done and it beeps, a potential application could be that Siri could then alert the user that whatever they were microwaving is now complete. Or if the doorbell rings, Siri could then send an alert to the user to let them know that someone is at the door, even if they aren’t home (and assuming there’s a smart device like the HomePod is there to pick up the sound).

While the research mainly mentions Siri and the HomePod, we imagine that this could also be applied to other smart devices and digital assistants from the likes of Google or Amazon.

Research Suggests How Siri Can Be Improved By Mapping Out The Room

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Last week in what seemed like a rare collaboration between both companies, Apple and Google announced that they would be teaming up to create contact tracing tech that will be integrated into iOS and Android. This would allow authorities around the world to create contact tracing apps that would allow them to better track the coronavirus outbreak.

It sounds like great news and also rather uplifting to see two of the biggest tech companies in the world work together to help combat this virus threat. However, according to a report from The Financial Times (paywall), as promising as this sounds, it looks like there could be billions of phones around the world that might not be able to take advantage of this.

This is because of the hardware requirements that are needed in order for this to work, and where more basic smartphones and feature phones might not have the tech, as well as older devices that are still very much in use in various parts of the world. This would potentially result in billions of phones (and people) who will be missing out on this.

According to CSS Insight analyst Ben Wood, “The underlying technology limitation is around the fact that there are still some phones in use that won’t have the necessary Bluetooth or latest operating system. If you are in a disadvantaged group and have an old device or a [basic] feature phone, you will miss out on the benefits that this app could potentially offer.”

That being said, we suppose some contact tracing is still better than nothing, although the report does highlight one of the potential flaws in this system.

Billions Of Phones Might Miss Out On Apple And Google’s Contact Tracing Apps

, original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

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