LAS VEGAS – It’s taken nearly 30 years of development but artificial intelligence (AI), in the form of voice-enabled digital assistants, are poised to be the talk of the town when CES opens on Wednesday.
“Applications for hub devices are set to grow by 50% over the next four days,” says Dr. Shawn DuBravac, chief economist of the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), speaking to journalists. Leading that growth is Amazon’s Alexa digital assistant platform, which debuted in November 2014 when Amazon unveiled its “smart speaker” called Echo. DuBravac says devices like the Echo are creating a new era of “faceless computing” which will have a ripple effect across all home electronics, from clothes washers that can automatically order detergent when they get low, to TVs that change channels by talking to them.
(Although no one really knows if consumers will want to purchase and use all of these whiz-bang gizmos and options.)
Since 1995, the tech industry has been grappling with how to perfect voice recognition (originally tied to a GUI), but more progress has been made in the last 30 months than was made in the past 30 years, said DuBravac. Alexa is an example of a new computing interface that works without the need for a screen and could eventually become more useful than smartphones.
And while it’s expected that a slew of new vendors will be announcing how they are integrating Alexa’s digital assistant technology into their products, you can also expect that Microsoft (with Cortana) and Google (with Google Assistant) will be trying to make some noise of their own at CES (Apple does not have a presence at the show). Microsoft has previously announced it will be opening Cortana to developers, as well as other parties who create various products.
Announcements have already begun with Lenovo and Dish Network touting launches of new services powered by Alexa. Dish says starting this year, users will be able to pair their Hopper DVR with the Amazon Echo or Echo Dot to change channels with voice commands. They can also search for content by genre or by actor.
"Amazon is excited to be working with DISH to develop an Alexa skill that offers a hands-free television experience, expanding the ways that our customers can use Alexa devices like Amazon Echo to make their lives easier," said Rob Pulciani, director of Amazon Alexa. "You no longer have to set down your popcorn to change the channel, or spend time searching for what channel the game is on – just ask Alexa to do it for you."
Consumer electronics editor John Bugailiskis is at CES all this week covering the massive show for Cartt.ca
