Voice In Canada Flash Briefing #473
Alright, let’s talk wake words today. So, as you know, whenever you talk to your Alexa device, you need to say a wake word in order for her, Alexa, to know that you are talking to her. Right?
We know that that’s how you use it. You say, “Alexa, do this. Alexa…?”, you know, there’s a question, that sort of thing. And there can be different wake words, you can choose different wake words, so it’s not just the typical Alexa.
It can also be Echo, it can be computer, and so on. But, here’s the thing I want to tell you about today. There is a newly published Amazon patent application, which would enable Alexa to listen to what you’re saying and respond without you saying the wake word initially.
So, what does that mean? It means that Alexa would be constantly monitoring your speech for the wake word but at the end of a phrase, which is actually more like how you would speak naturally under certain circumstances.
So, the example that has been cited is, when you want to set an alarm, often times, and I do this in the evening, I will say, “Alexa, set an alarm for 6:00 AM.” In certain circumstances, I may want to just say more naturally, “Set an alarm for 6:00 AM, Alexa.”
… which would enable Alexa to listen to what you’re saying and respond without you saying the wake word initially.
But notice I said the keyword, Alexa, at the end of the phrase, and this patent would allow the device to be listening to sequences of about 15 to 30 seconds in length, for phrases that end in the word, and then because it had been listening for the 15 to 30 seconds prior, it would then know what you were saying and process it.
Now, of course, some people have privacy concerns about this, so the way that Amazon is dealing with this, at least according to the patent, is that it would only be listening to 15 to 30 seconds.
It would be constantly deleting that audio, if it wasn’t… or if you didn’t include the wake word, and also, this wouldn’t, of course, be sent to the cloud, unless the wake word was heard.
So, it’s interesting, I think it’s actually pretty neat, personally, because it again, brings a more natural way of speaking to the devices.
The other thing to just keep in mind, really, is that this is a patent application, and it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to come to market, but it does give us a little bit of insight into the kinds of things that Amazon is doing with these devices.
So, there you go, as usual, I’d love to hear feedback just hit me up on Twitter @DrTeriFisher. Alright, talk to you tomorrow.
Useful Resources
- Complete List of Alexa Commands
- Alexa-Enabled and Controlled Devices in Canada
- Teri Fisher on Twitter
- Alexa in Canada on Twitter
- Alexa in Canada on Instagram
- Alexa in Canada Community Group on Facebook
- Please leave a review on the Skills Store!
- Shopping on Amazon.ca
- Create a Flash Briefing Tutorial – Free Tutorial to Create your own Flash Briefing
- Flash Briefing Formula – Your Complete Premium Step-By-Step Course to Launch a Successful Flash Briefing that Gets Found and Grows Your Brand
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1. Open your Alexa app and click on the Menu button > Settings > Flash Briefing.
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3. Click on “Voice in Canada” and the Enable button.
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