Users of Amazon’s Alexa in the United States will be able to use its new feature starting Aug. 7. They can now choose the speed at which Alexa is speaking from seven different options.
‘Alexa Speak Faster’
There are times when it seems as though completing a task or looking for information would be much faster if users just did it themselves rather than rely on smart assistants such as Amazon’s Alexa. If users ever hoped that Alexa spoke faster, then Amazon's announcement about the speed of Alexa's speech is a wish come true.
Now, users can get Alexa to speak faster by saying “Alexa, speak faster.” According to the press release, apart from the default speed at which Alexa is speaking, there will now be four faster speed rates that users can choose from. If a user decided that Alexa’s pace was actually perfect for them the way it was, then they can simply say “Alexa, speak at your default rate” to get it back to normal.
While it does not seem like such a big deal to make Alexa speak faster, it may mean a much better Alexa experience for some users.
“[S]ome of our customers who are blind or low vision are used to consuming audio content and want to be able to listen more quickly,” said Sarah Caplener, head of Alexa for Everyone.
‘Alexa, Speak Slower’
Apart from getting Alexa to speak faster, users can also choose from two slower speech rates for Alexa. This option would be a big help for users who are older or hard of hearing, as they sometimes need a little more time to listen to Alexa. This not only helps make interactions with Alexa a better experience, but it would also customize Alexa to better fit the users’ specific needs.
“When we ask her about the Question of the Day, she goes so fast! We’re impressed at how easy it is to slow her down, so it'll be great not to have to ask her to repeat herself multiple times. We aren't 'techy' people, but we like that we can use our Alexa device and feel connected to her, so we definitely appreciate the ease-of-use of this feature,” said Amazon customers 91-year-old Ron and 73-year-old Alicia.
For now, the feature is only available in the United States, and there is no word when or if the feature will be rolled-out in other countries.
