Apple May Introduce Next-Gen Natural Language API in its Amazon Echo Competitor

[MacRumors]

Last week we reported that Apple is said to be readying an Amazon Echo competitor that could be used in the home for features like listening to music, asking for information and getting news headlines.

The product is thought to include a camera with facial recognition capabilities and said to learn over time about its users, which interact with the device via an enhanced version of Siri. Meanwhile, Apple's virtual assistant is expected to be opened up to outside developers via a soon-to-be-released software development kit in order to facilitate this integration.

Now, Tech Insider claims that a natural language outfit bought by Apple late last year could play a central part in the company's plans for the upcoming smart home device.

In October 2015, Apple acquired VocalIQ, a UK-based startup that had spent the last 10 years researching natural language, belief tracking, decision making, and message generation, in an attempt to develop a next-generation natural language API.

Speculation at the time suggested Apple hoped to use the technology in its car project, codenamed "Titan".

However, according to a source familiar with VocalIQ's technology who spoke to Tech Insider, Apple is likely to introduce the API in its Echo competitor because of its ability to go beyond the "session-based" contextual responses touted by the likes of Viv. VocalIQ achieves this feat by retaining semantic context between conversations and permanently remembering the preferences of its users.

Apparently the company had been testing VocalIQ against Siri, Google Now, and Cortana, and found it to be vastly superior in dealing with complex natural language queries, such as asking for "a nearby Chinese restaurant with open parking and Wi-Fi that's kid-friendly".

[But] What if you change your mind an hour later? Simply saying something like "Find me a Mexican restaurant instead," will bring you new results, while still taking into account the other parameters like parking and WiFi you mentioned before. Hound, Siri, and any other assistant would make you start the search session over again. But Vocal IQ remembers. That's more human-like than anything available today.

VocalIQ can also filter out extraneous noise to figure out exactly what you're saying, thus making it more accurate than Siri is today. It's able to take in all the noise in an environment -- the TV, kids shouting, whatever -- and determine with a high probability which sound is actually the user's query. It can even learn to adapt to different accents over time to improve accuracy.

While the report's source doesn't claim to have any hard evidence that Apple plans to include the technology into its upcoming smart device, the possibility is an intriguing one. It also feeds into the expectation that Apple's decision to open up Siri to third-parties indicates that the virtual assistant will receive the necessary enhancements to prevent it from being overtaken by recent advances in competing products.

Article Link: Apple May Introduce Next-Gen Natural Language API in its Amazon Echo Competitor

 

[ButteryScrollin]

Today, Tech Insider claims ...

"May 27, 2016"


Sounds like Siri could be a big part of WWDC.

 

[Smith288]

Siri API would be a solid, however late, addition to a developer's repertoire.

 

[Andres Cantu]

Anything to make Siri more useful.

 

[Crosscreek]

Always on devices make me nervous. Who's listening?

 

[ShadovvMoon]

Are they also going to include this upgraded Siri on the new rMBP that they better announce?

 

[mazz0]

So would it realise in that query the user (presumably) wants a restaurant that's kid friendly and has wifi, rather than a restaurant that has kid-friendly wifi, which is what's written? That would be quite impressive.

 

[DotCom2]

This is getting exciting!

 

[robjulo]

"to open up Siri to third-parties indicates that the virtual assistant will receive the necessary enhancements to prevent it from being overtaken by recent advances in competing products."

Lol. Siri has long since been overtaken. Google Now, provides useful information. Siri, just a parlor trick.

 

[jonnysods]

Are they also going to include this upgraded Siri on the new rMBP that they better announce?

Seriously. Just update the things you already make then show me something flashy.

 

[2ilent8cho]

Well we have seen screenshots of Siri being on the next Mac OS X, so maybe Siri will be improved dramatically.

 

[zonk44]

So would it realise in that query the user (presumably) wants a restaurant that's kid friendly and has wifi, rather than a restaurant that has kid-friendly wifi, which is what's written? That would be quite impressive.

Uh, I hope not. What if you want kid friendly wifi? meaning wifi with violence and porn filters

 

[AngerDanger]

Apparently the company had been testing VocalIQ against Siri, Google Now, and Cortana, and found it to be vastly superior in dealing with complex natural language queries, such as asking for "a nearby Chinese restaurant with open parking and Wi-Fi that's kid-friendly".​

"Kid-friendly" parking and Wi-Fi actually exist?! Oh, wait, it's sort of a dangling modifier. I get it now. I guess VocalIQ has already surpassed my language computation abilities.​

 

[ProjectManager101]

Apple is like "that guy" who flirt with you and you turned down and still calling you each six month to see if you are available... He thinks he is flashy but he just does not get it because there is no substance. That is how Apple feels like, trying to hard to be popular.

 

[Dilster3k]

Siri in a box is literally the last thing I want, because I've barely used her in the past 5 years on my phone.

Can't wait till they ramble on about Siri in a box for about an hour straight during their keynote. #innovation

 

[AppleFan242]

I'd say THIS is how Apple thinks it'll be able to stall the iPhone 7 hardware design for a year but still get it out of the stores. If they can truly get this right (along with a few of the other rumored features) and give other apps access to it instead of scaling it back, I think it might be enough to get my money come September.

 

[JimmyHook]

I've been saying this for a while now. Apple was first to the digital assistant arena for phones. When they purchased VocalIQ, Faceshift, etc it was easy to see that they would come back from behind and dominate other players. They've been working on it longer behind the scenes. This seems like it will be a legit assistant that you can converse with. Google Now will seem antiquated by comparison

 

[Jason83]

Wonder if this is all high level or if we'll see significant progress at wwdc. Hoping the latter.

 

[JimmyHook]

Siri in a box is literally the last thing I want, because I've barely used her in the past 5 years.

You've barely used Siri. You haven't used this, which will be lightyears ahead of any competition.

 

[Jax44]

Always on devices make me nervous. Who's listening?

It's only me...

 

[AngerDanger]

Always on devices make me nervous. Who's listening?

I don't know, but I try to ensure they hear plenty of inane conversation, atonal attempts to sing '80s songs, and rough sex. Hope they… enjoy.

 

[Gudi]

I hate these kind of rumors. Supposed Apple competitor reveals something and immediately Apples next upcoming iThing is expected to do the same stuff but better. Is it a car, is it a watch, is it a stupid VR helmet? Apple is rumored to work on all of that and one more thing. And of course Apple is doomed to become the next Blackberry, if they don't compete on the exact same stuff as everyone else.

 

[Kognito]

Always on devices make me nervous. Who's listening?

No one... The "Hey Siri" type functionality doesn't send any data to Apple, that would be seriously inefficient and costly. All it does is listen for a specific sound, hence how you can train Hey Siri to your exact pronunciation. To prove it, put your device in airplane mode and try saying "Hey Siri", it'll still work.

Of course, not to say that these devices couldn't be used maliciously, but there's no greater risk with these "Always listening" devices than there is with your Mac, PC or any other smart device with a mic on it.

 

[robjulo]

Based on what? It doesn't exist at this point. You have no idea what it will look like when introduced. Apple has developed a track record of amazing, magical new features that only end up disappointing. Siri for one.

You've barely used Siri. You haven't used this, which will be lightyears ahead of any competition.

 

[2457282]

I really hope that Apple announces an ATV5 that includes always-on Siri. And that they significantly improve Siri, including the Developer APIs. I think this could be the answer to Echo without the need of a new hardware line. The only issue I see with this is dealing with listening while playing movies/TV/videos/music./etc. I am sure they can figure it out but to me that would be the biggest challenge. Actually adding it to a new ATV seems fairly easy.

While they are at it, bringing this to all platforms (iOS, OS X) would be really good as that means I can take it with me versus echo which just sits in the house.