Majel Voice Recognition - Now Google's Getting Siri-us
Google's response to Apple's Siri is codenamed Majel; the intent is to further develop the Voice Actions technology that is currently available on most Android phones.
Google’s Matias Duarte had previously given hints about the future of Android’s voice actions in an interview with Slashgear. Matias said, “Our approach is more like Star Trek, right, starship Enterprise; every piece of computing surface, everything is voice-aware. It’s not that there’s a personality, it doesn’t have a name, it’s just Computer.”
It turns out that this was a pretty good clue, since (as sf fans know) Majel Barrett-Roddenberry played the voice of the computer in all six of the different versions of Star Trek, along with various screen roles. Take a listen to the following video, that provides examples of all of her computer voice roles - and perhaps a preview of Google's Majel?
(Majel in all six Star Trek series video)
Don't overlook the importance of these different voice roles as an exploration of the nature of human-computer interaction.
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