Blog Post # 1

I read this article tonight on the New York Times website titled The Coming Wave Of Gadgets That Listen and Obey. The piece talked about speech recognition technology and how different companies like Microsoft, AT&T, and Intel are competing to make better speech systems for phones, cars, and computers.
The article was really interesting to me because in Web Publishing class we discussed how technology and media are becoming more interactive and therefore more personalized. I mean users can pick and choose what content and applications they want and disregard the ones they don’t want. And now, users will be able to use their own voice more accurately to make these decisions!
Of course, we already have some speech technology with the navigation systems in some luxury cars. Then there are the annoying automated systems that handle most customer service calls for businesses. I know you love those, right. But according to the piece of writing that’s just the beginning. Companies are improving speech technology so it can recognize more realistic human voices. In other words, users won’t have to speak so plain like a robotic voice. The technology will be more accustom to the natural flow of the tongue during a conversation. Experts are also studying different accents and pronunciations to improve the speech technology for foreigners as well.
In the future, every cell phone, car, and computer will probably have the capability to recognize and respond to its user’s voice. I think it would be cool to say turn on and have your computer turn on, or say go to Myspace and have the computer bring up your profile page. I can even imagine getting in the car and saying your friends name and having your car remember the route to your friend’s house! It’s amazing how technology keeps out doing itself.
While I look forward to the future of speech technology, I wonder how many people would actually use the applications. I mean there are a lot of people who are intimidated by technology and they want things to be as simple as possible. Furthermore, I question how advanced speech technology will affect normal communication. For instance, if people driving cars can have a conversation with the interactive media in their vehicles, what will happen to the need for passengers as a source of entertainment? Think about it!