Intel’s New Mobile Chips Will Be Always Listening
Laptops and tablets powered by Intel chips that hit the shelves later this year will be always listening, be it a good or a bad thing. Enhanced speech recognition can bring the future a tad closer and change how we interact with technology.
I am currently hooked on Extant, a new Halle Berry series about tech. Well, it's about aliens, but also about human-like AI and plenty of tech - Halle talking to her fridge and her fridge sending emails and doing online research while Halle is making lunch, or thin and transparent smartphones, self-driven cars, health tracking chips in people's mouths and stitch-less surgeries, and a lot more tech that is in the works right now. So, Intel is making a part of that sci-fi future available now.
Hello, Computer!
The company unveiled its new line of mobile processors that enable users to wake up or unlock a tablet or computer by saying "Hello, computer." Of course, that's not the edge of these chips' capabilities. Devices powered by these new processors will be operable through voice commands. We have yet to see them in action to estimate if they are as good as they say, but Intel claim these laptops can be your virtual assistants. Say, you are still lingering in bed, but you can activate your laptop and call out "Computer, check e-mail" or "Computer, launch Netflix in Chrome browser" or "Computer, check the weather forecast for today."
Already, I am wondering if there would be a way to customize voice commands because I'd want to name my computer instead of calling it "computer."
The Core M
The new Intel wonder chips are called Core M and are slated to go on sale by the end of 2014. The digital signal processor is an integral part of Core M line and it processes audio stream with an unprecedented efficiency and insignificant power use. They are based on Intel's new generation of 14 nanometer architecture transistors that are cooler and more power efficient than older generations to the extent that they don't even require cooling fans.
Ed Gamsaragan, an Intel engineer said, “It doesn’t matter what state the system will be in, it will be listening all the time. You could be actively doing work or it could be in standby.”
The Security,Surveillance and OS Compatibility
Users will be able to set a short pass-phrase to wake up the computer. Likewise, device can be trained to wake up to specific voice only, which is called a voice-print feature, and even though engineers say it is currently not as accurate as the pass-phrase, but it will prevent the computer from waking up accidentally.
Intel engineers also suggest users pair the voice recognition with webcam facial recognition for better security.
However, it will be up to device manufacturers to decide how they want to implement the new always listening chips, and the good news it is compatible with all operating systems, so before long we might have Windows-powered laptops and tablets that are always listening.
The new architecture will let manufacturers make thinner laptops and tablets, so as you can see, technology makes sci-fi scenarios happen today. The only huge problem about the devices that are always listening is state surveillance and susceptibility to hacking of everything that is tech and digital, so this might as well be the last nail in your privacy's coffin.
Source: Technology Review.
