Along with Siri, Cortana, Google Assistant and Alexa it seems that we'll
soon have a new voice assistant to talk to. From neowin.net
Samsung confirms Bixby virtual assistant, will debut with the Galaxy S8
Muhammad Jarir Kanji
Rumours of Samsung working on a more advanced replacement for its
relatively lackluster S-Voice started appearing toward the end of last
year and now we finally have confirmation on its existence from the company.
As expected, the virtual assistant and artificial intelligence will be
called Bixby and will, for the most part, bring Samsung up to par with
other competitors such as Apple's Siri, Microsoft's Cortana and Amazon's
Alexa. Samsung does, however, have higher hopes for its artificial
intelligence, releasing the following statement regarding its goals for
Bixby:
Samsung has a conceptually new philosophy to the problem [of virtual
interaction]: instead of humans learning how the machine interacts with
the world (a reflection of the abilities of designers), it is the
machine that needs to learn and adapt to us.
Alongside this emphasis on the convenience of its users and the
flexibility of the AI in adapting to their needs, Samsung also outlined
the three guiding principles it adhered to in the creation of its
virtual assistant, principles which it believes will allow Bixby to
surpass its competition in the increasingly crowded AI space.
Of these, the first is completeness, which outlines Samsung's goal of
allowing the AI to perform any and all tasks related to a supported
application, unlike many other virtual assistants, which may be baked
into the OS and may perform certain operations on supported
applications, but will still require manual interaction by the user.
Samsung claims its AI will be able to complete any and all possible
tasks via voice commands in an application, without the need for any
manual input from the user. As a result, Samsung also believes that the
learning curve for Bixby will be far easier than competing products as
users don't have to fumble around with determining what the limitations
of the AI are.
Bixby also claims to be contextually aware, meaning it will be able to
track the context of your use of an application, thus being able to
understand your commands in a more comprehensive manner. This, Samsung
believes, will "allow users to weave various modes of interactions
including touch or voice at any context of the application, whichever
they feel is most comfortable and intuitive."
The final focus of Samsung was cognitive tolerance, which refers to
Bixby's flexibility in understanding commands that do not adhere to a
specific script or are uttered using specific language. This would not
only allow for better ease of access but will, perhaps, prove invaluable
for users whose first language may not be English.
Samsung also confirmed that the AI will be making its debut on the
Galaxy S8 and that the device will feature a prominent button dedicated
to the virtual assistant.
At launch, the device will come with a number of Bixby-supported
applications pre-installed (these will most likely only be first-party
apps in the beginning). However, Samsung has plans to release an SDK
soon, allowing third-party developers to also weave in Bixby support
into their own apps. In the future, Samsung plans on expanding Bixby's
functionality from just its phone to its long line of appliances,
allowing you to control your air conditioner or washing machine, for
example, with voice commands.
Source: Samsung via Android CentralSamsung confirms Bixby virtual
assistant, will debut with the Galaxy S8
Muhammad Jarir Kanji
Rumours of Samsung working on a more advanced replacement for its
relatively lackluster S-Voice started appearing toward the end of last
year and now we finally have confirmation on its existence from the company.
As expected, the virtual assistant and artificial intelligence will be
called Bixby and will, for the most part, bring Samsung up to par with
other competitors such as Apple's Siri, Microsoft's Cortana and Amazon's
Alexa. Samsung does, however, have higher hopes for its artificial
intelligence, releasing the following statement regarding its goals for
Bixby:
Samsung has a conceptually new philosophy to the problem [of virtual
interaction]: instead of humans learning how the machine interacts with
the world (a reflection of the abilities of designers), it is the
machine that needs to learn and adapt to us.
Alongside this emphasis on the convenience of its users and the
flexibility of the AI in adapting to their needs, Samsung also outlined
the three guiding principles it adhered to in the creation of its
virtual assistant, principles which it believes will allow Bixby to
surpass its competition in the increasingly crowded AI space.
Of these, the first is completeness, which outlines Samsung's goal of
allowing the AI to perform any and all tasks related to a supported
application, unlike many other virtual assistants, which may be baked
into the OS and may perform certain operations on supported
applications, but will still require manual interaction by the user.
Samsung claims its AI will be able to complete any and all possible
tasks via voice commands in an application, without the need for any
manual input from the user. As a result, Samsung also believes that the
learning curve for Bixby will be far easier than competing products as
users don't have to fumble around with determining what the limitations
of the AI are.
Bixby also claims to be contextually aware, meaning it will be able to
track the context of your use of an application, thus being able to
understand your commands in a more comprehensive manner. This, Samsung
believes, will "allow users to weave various modes of interactions
including touch or voice at any context of the application, whichever
they feel is most comfortable and intuitive."
The final focus of Samsung was cognitive tolerance, which refers to
Bixby's flexibility in understanding commands that do not adhere to a
specific script or are uttered using specific language. This would not
only allow for better ease of access but will, perhaps, prove invaluable
for users whose first language may not be English.
Samsung also confirmed that the AI will be making its debut on the
Galaxy S8 and that the device will feature a prominent button dedicated
to the virtual assistant.
At launch, the device will come with a number of Bixby-supported
applications pre-installed (these will most likely only be first-party
apps in the beginning). However, Samsung has plans to release an SDK
soon, allowing third-party developers to also weave in Bixby support
into their own apps. In the future, Samsung plans on expanding Bixby's
functionality from just its phone to its long line of appliances,
allowing you to control your air conditioner or washing machine, for
example, with voice commands.
Source: Samsung via Android Central
--
David Goldfield,
Assistive Technology Specialist
Feel free to visit my Web site
WWW.DavidGoldfield.Info
You are invited to visit the moderator's Web site at WWW.DavidGoldfield.Info
for additional resources and information about assistive technology training
services.
To unsubscribe from this list, please email
blind-philly-comp-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the
subject line.
To subscribe from another email address, send email to
blind-philly-comp-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word subscribe in the subject
line.
To contact the list administrator, please email
blind-philly-comp-moderators@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
