Intelligent Personal Assistants are a growing market
The 1989 movie “Back to the Future 2” depicts the year 2015 as a magical, mystic place of technology — hover boards, drones, flying cars, flat screen televisions, video conferencing, and self-lacing shoes. While some of these items have not quite come to fruition, at least not yet, we are living in a time of virtual assistance where computers, smartphones, and tablets can virtually run our lives, if we ask them to.
A mixture of voice automation and artificial intelligence, an intelligent personal assistant is software that works at human command, completing tasks, providing information and assistance pulled from a virtual network in the cloud via a smartphone, tablet, computer, or a specific device.
Some intelligent personal assistants can organize full schedules, send invitations for meetings, plan a driving route with traffic updates and an estimated time of arrival, set a timer for a reminder, or order pizza to your precise request. Some work by voice command, others by sending a simple email.
Intelligent personal assistants, like Apple’s Siri and Google Now, have been available for a few years now, with more programs and apps by a collection of other companies hitting the market recently or on the way. Some are being created to target a specific area of need and fill a niche market, while others are out to improve the platform and provide a single hub.
While their capabilities are remarkable now, as technology keeps changing and progressing, where could intelligent personal assistants be headed in the future?
“Heads up displays,” says Mike Schroll, vice president of business development at PC Pitstop, and a member of the Grand Strand Technology Council, “Like Google Glass.”
Chatting via Google Hangouts while on a flight, Schroll, a web entrepreneur and tech professional based in Myrtle Beach, thinks the future for intelligent personal assistant lies in transparent displays and wearable tech.
A heads up display will show information on a transparent screen or glass without requiring the user to look away from their viewpoint, providing a faster interface for the intelligent personal assistant apps. As for now, big advances in visual computing are still on the way.
While technology will continue to evolve, utilizing what we have now is one way to become aware of future possibilities. Here’s a look at a few popular intelligent personal assistants currently making a splash on the market and brief glimpse at what’s to come.
Smartphones, Tablets & Computers
Apple Siri
What it does: Hailed as the original intelligent personal assistant, Siri is a pop culture icon these days, well known to Apple and non-Apple fans worldwide. Siri is focused on voice control features and adapts to the user’s language practice, mixing it with their device’s preferences and settings to provide individualized outcomes over time.
With a simple long press of the home button or ‘Hey Siri’ voice prompt when the phone is charging, users can launch apps on their device, call contacts, dictate and send emails, ask questions, post to social media, get detailed driving directions, set reminders, and much more, depending on which Apple device they’re using. Siri employs several search engines and online services to provide information and answer questions with accuracy and wit, when needed.
Sean Torrens, a Myrtle Beach resident who works for a state agency, says he uses Siri on his iPhone 6 on a daily basis to help him coordinate his often busy work and personal schedules.
“Siri is sort of like having a virtual string around your finger all the time,” says Torrens.
He often travels for his job and says the most helpful aspect of Siri for him is the reminders. With a simple voice command, he says he can prompt Siri to set a reminder that is either location or time specific.
“The reminder feature is great. I can tell Siri to remind me to do something at a specific location. For example, I will tell Siri to remind me once I get home or to a certain town, to do this other thing,” says Torrens.
Along with setting up weekly reminders like taking the trash can to the curb every Friday or checking a specific spreadsheet for work on a daily time table, Torrens says he can also ask Siri to prompt him to complete a task so many days into the future, or remind him of an upcoming event.
How you can get it: Siri is available for Apple devices only, including iPhone 4s or later, Apple Watch, iPad Pro, iPad Air or later, iPad 3rd generation or later, iPad mini or later, and iPod Touch 5th generation or later, with internet access. For more information, visit www.apple.com/ios/siri
Google Now
What it does: Google Now is Google’s answer to the intelligent personal assistant. Just as other software programs, Google Now can answer questions, find detailed information, deliver weather reports, driving directions, and much, much more.
How Google Now differs from the other intelligent personal assistants is in the way it presents the information. Once the program is running, a user prompts Google Now with the command “OK Google” and asks for certain information or to complete a task. Google Now will answer when appropriate, as well as detail the information in what are called ‘Now’ cards. The cards present specific information as you need it and depending on what you’re trying to accomplish.
For example, if you set a calendar notification for a dinner reservation, Google Now will prompt you with a reminder when it’s time to leave, give you detailed driving directions to the restaurant with traffic updates, and show you the restaurant’s current menu if it’s available.
The cards can organize music playlists, keep track of how many miles you’ve run in the past week, show the traffic on your daily commute, and much more. Google Now automatically updates and creates Now cards based on your preferences, daily routines, and interests.
How you can get it: Google Now is available through the Google Search mobile app available on Android devices (smartphones, smart watches, tablets) using Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) or later, Apple iOS 6.0 or later, and on desktop computers through the Google Chrome web browser on Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, Linux, and Chrome OS. For more information, visit www.google.com/landing/now
Microsoft Cortana
What it does: Cortana, named for an artificial intelligence character in Microsoft’s popular “Halo” video game franchise, delivers a decent fusion of voice instruction and personalization features to provide its user with current and accurate information.
Cortana can complete searches on the web, tell you the weather forecast, set up calendar reminders, alarms and notifications, provide a news report specialized to your interests, get driving directions, and more. Once activated, the user simply says “Hey Cortana” to get this intelligent personal assistant’s attention, then commands or asks for the information in need. Cortana can tell jokes if asked, looks up definitions via the web, outline the news headlines, and answer questions both informatively and with quips depending on the nature of the question.
How you can get it: Cortana is available on any device using Microsoft’s Windows 10 (desktop computer, phone or tablet), Windows Phone 8.1, and Microsoft Band. In the near future, it will be coming to Android, Xbox One, and iOS devices. For more information, visit www.microsoft.com/en-us/mobile/experiences/cortana/
Specific Device
Amazon Alexa
What it does: Alexa is a cloud-based voice service created by Amazon, and currently, only accessible through the Amazon’s Echo and Fire TV devices.
The Echo is the front runner for using Alexa. This hands-free standalone device combines beamforming technology and seven microphones to hear and interpret the user in a large or noisy room, as well as create distinct sound with 360 degree speakers.
By saying “Alexa”, the user engages the device, which will look up information to answer questions, check news headlines and weather, play music, set timers, and more, using a Wi-Fi connection. Alexa can utilize specific apps like Pandora to play music, or sync with home devices like SmartThings or WeMo to control lights or lock doors.
How you can get it: Alexa is only available on the Amazon Echo and Amazon Fire TV (2nd generation) devices, with the companion app available on Android, iOS, and Fire OS devices and accessible through a web browser. For more information, visit www.amazon.com
In Development
Facebook M
What it will do: M is Facebook’s version of an intelligent personal assistant, and will be available through their Messenger app. It will marry artificial intelligence with Facebook employees who will supervise and ensure each request is answered properly.
M will complete tasks and provide information through requests and questions asked through a special prompt on Messenger. Booking restaurant reservations, travel itineraries, ordering and shipping gifts for special occasions, and arranging appointments are just a few of the key services Facebook’s M says it will deliver.
While David Marcus, vice president of Messaging Products at Facebook announced M this past August, Facebook is still testing the service and it is not currently available nationwide.
x.ai Amy Ingram
What it will do: This intelligent personal assistant is driven to put the ease into scheduling. If a user wants to schedule a meeting time between co-workers or arrange a time to catch up over coffee with a friend, Amy assists by taking care of all the details, via email.
There’s no sign-in, password or download. Once you’re registered, you simply CC: amy@x.ai on an email requesting to schedule a meeting or event. Amy will then coordinate between the two parties, checking your personal calendar against times supplied by the contact until she finds a common time and sets the meeting via email. The user can set preferences with Amy, blocking out certain times for lunch, meeting locations, and more, just by emailing her.
Amy is currently in beta, with a possible spring 2016 release date. For more information or to get on the waiting list, visit x.ai
SoundHound Hound App
What it will do: SoundHound is known for their service that identifies songs, but the next big app they’re rolling out is Hound. Hound is a voice controlled app that uses speech recognition and language comprehension to quickly deliver what its user is looking to obtain or find out.
Whether the user is looking to call a contact, find a hotel room available in a specific area within a select price point, or hearing the latest news headlines, Hound will work rapidly to supply the information.
Unlike other voice recognition software that works after the speaker is done talking, Hound will begin to process the information as you’re speaking, so it can provide answers and information without a delay. It will also be conversational, remembering your last question and applying that information to future requests.
The Hound app is still in beta for Android, with it coming to iOS platforms soon. For more information or to request a beta invite, visit www.soundhound.com/hound
This story was originally published October 26, 2015 at 12:41 PM with the headline "Intelligent Personal Assistants are a growing market."