Apple is reportedly pursuing an idea that would shorten the trigger phrase "Hey Siri" to simply "Siri." It will be straightforward, just like amazon's "Alexa."
No More "Hey" in "Hey Siri" Command
According to the recent Power On newsletter by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple could speed up queries the users made back-to-back if they were to remove the "Hey" from the command.
Gurman said in his newsletter that this minor update is a "technical challenge" that demands a large amount of artificial intelligence (AI) training and underlying engineering development.
Apple has been working on the transition for a number of months now, and if all goes according to plan, the company aims to implement the change either next year or the year after that. The firm has been gathering the required training data and putting the streamlined wake word through its tests with the help of its workforce.
All these preparations seem necessary given that Apple's Siri is already prone to producing many false positives, particularly with signals on the HomePod, as reported on 9to5Mac.
The difficulty lies in the fact that Siri must be able to interpret the word "Siri," spoken in a variety of ways according to local dialects and accents. Notably, it is more likely that the system would correctly pick up the signal if you say "Hey Siri" since this phrase contains two words.
More Siri Developments from Apple
Gurman added that Apple has been working on developing more improvements.
It will strengthen the voice assistant's capacity to comprehend people and behave appropriately. Moreover, it plans to integrate the Siri function more deeply with the applications and services offered by third-party developers.
"It will integrate the voice assistant deeper into third-party apps and services and improve its ability to understand users and take the correct course of action," Gurman stated.
Recent changes made by the company to Siri include a redesigned user interface for the Apple TV, which was released as part of tvOS 16.1 earlier this year.
Comparison to Other Digital Assistants
Based on an article by 9to5Mac, it should not come as much of a shock that Apple wants to rebrand the wake word for its virtual assistant Siri. The change from "Hey Siri" to "Siri" would bring Siri in line with Amazon's Alexa, which demands users to say "Alexa" rather than "Hey Alexa."
A similar adjustment was made by Microsoft ahead of the demise of its own voice assistant, Cortana. The wake-up keyword on smart speakers produced by that firm was changed from "Hey Cortana" to simply "Cortana" in the year 2018.
Meanwhile, for Google devices, users are required to say "OK Google" or "Hey Google." But, recently, reports say the company has been working on a new method to allow them to make follow-up queries without having to repeat the wake word.
See Also : BMW Chooses Amazon Alexa for Its Next-Gen Voice Assistant: Partnership Grows from 2018 Decision
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Trisha Kae Andrada
