Up to now, voice recognition for the average computer, outside of some niche areas, has been a solution in search of a problem.
This has been because it is just more convenient for the average person in a typical computer environment to type rather than talk.
The other day, I noticed that Samsung has come out with a voice-recognition feature for some of their phones. You can read more about them here.
What isn’t important here is how good it is now, or what it’s meant for now (in this case, transcribing text messages). What is important is what it WILL be eventually used for.
Eventually, computers are going to end up in our phones. One real, immediate problem with that phones are inherently typing-challenged. You just can’t have a teeny, tiny phone with a big-buttocked keyboard. Eventually, you might have fold-out keyboards, but if you’re wandering around, that’s no solution.
The only realistic way most people are going to use a phone-computer like a computer is if they can just tell it what to do, and what will you need to do that? Voila, voice recognition software! The solution will finally find the problem it’s been looking for?
Yes, this solution creates a new problem. It’s pretty hard to navigate around a webpage when the screen is located somewhere behind your ear. Don’t worry, genetic engineering is making tremendous advances these days! By the time the phone is ready, pop a pill and grow a new eye anywhere you want. Not only will you be able to see the screen, you’ll be able to watch your back all by yourself?
Oh, you want something a little less rad? Spoilsport! 🙂
I suppose a detachable screen or headset will have to do. Both are a bit inconvenient, but nowhere near as bad as trying to type thirty-something letters and numbers on a twelve-digit keypad.
Just something to put in the back of your mind for the future.
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