Siri Co-Founders Building Viv, a Next-Generation Flexible Virtual Assistant

[PocketSand11]

They should just copy Google's voice software, its beats Siri to death in terms of voice recognition.

Siri almost never has issues understanding me. She just sometimes says that she's not available for some reason. 4 bars of LTE, Siri, what else do you want?! I usually use it (not going to say "her" here XD) for navigation, which brings me to the problem of Apple Maps having good directions but very few POIs mapped in.

Google's voice assistant can't understand anything unpopular I say to it. It seems to correct any misunderstandings with Google search recommendations, meaning that it works amazingly well if I'm Googling something common but can hardly understand anything uncommon. I envy those people who say that Google answers all their questions because it's usually not the case for me. "How do you use x264?" "How do you compile X for PowerPC?"

 

[coolfactor]

I'm not convinced that Viv is a "bigger" vision than what Apple has for Siri. Over the next few months, we'll see Siri's presence and capability extend beyond mobile, into the home, deeper into vehicles... and possibly onto the wrist.

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They should just copy Google's voice software, its beats Siri to death in terms of voice recognition.

Posts like yours are almost a waste of time to respond to. You can't maintain credibility when you make blanket statements that lack any detail and examples.

There's many factors that could explain why you are having difficulty using Siri.

Do multiple people use your device(s)? Siri is designed to learn its users' voices, so if multiple people are using it, that could be leading to a lower quality of recognition.

Do you pronounce your words clearly?

Do you have a strong accent? (I'm sure this is subjective)

Do you try use Siri while there is background noise, such as traffic, TV or music? This will greatly affect how well she can understand your spoken words.

So, give us some examples of where Siri is not working for you, and maybe some people can offer some suggestions to improve your experience. We're a community and love to help.

 

[69Mustang]

Perhaps I do. But I'd say that 98-99% accuracy is a pretty reasonable "tolerance."

I never said winston1236 mumbles. But millions of people use Siri with no issue. Perhaps the winston1236's original message could have been something along the lines of, "I don't know about others, but I find Siri lacking in voice recognition accuracy." instead of a blanket statement about its inadequacies just because they can't seem to find a way to make it work for them.

I would say the same goes for you as well. 98-99% accuracy for you (seems a stretch but who am I to doubt the accuracy of your accuracy rate). You say millions use Siri with no issues. I could counter with an equal number or more feel Siri is just as inaccurate as winston1236 feels it is. Neither of us have any hard data to back our assertions.

Maybe you should write a book on interacting with Siri because you seem to be getting accuracy higher than anyone in the history of man, 'cept Jesus. Most people I know are probably around the 70-80% level. <- anecdotal evidence. Actually, most people I know don't use Siri, at least in public.

 

[SeattleMoose]

These type of things always sound good on paper. But with AI (in general), expectations have so far failed to live up to the hype.

 

[Gigaman]

These guys are the reason I became a big fan of Siri, glad they're still working on something like this.

 

[mdelvecchio]

As iOS evolved and the vision for Siri changed, co-founders Dag Kitt*laus and Adam Cheyer left Apple to pursue other opportunities. This liberation led to their reunion and the formation of Viv Labs,

do we know thats why they left? because ive worked w/ co-founders before...after selling out they 1) work the stipulated duration post buy-out. 2) quit to enjoy the cash. 3) go back to being their own bosses w/ a new venture.

thats not uncommon, so if these guys quit and started a new related venture, then id wager it's whats happening.

 

[69650]

It's a shame they weren't able to peruse this kind of research from within Apple. Here's to the crazy ones, the blue sky thinkers that ultimately make the world a better place for us all.

 

[wikiverse]

These type of things always sound good on paper. But with AI (in general), expectations have so far failed to live up to the hype.

Bull! This exact thing already exists and works amazingly well.

 

[cmwade77]

Hi Viv,

I need something to get blood stains out of a carpet and the GPS location of an out of the away place to bury something. Also, could you give me information on shovels and the location of the nearest hardware store?

Viv: Reporting your current location, as well as all future locations to the police now. Is there anything else I can help you with?

 

[Col4bin]

Sad that Siri is still stuck in a childlike beta. Perhaps once perfected, Apple can buyout the founding company producing Viv and integrate this technology into Siri's long overdue incantation?

 

[Col4bin]

I'm not convinced that Viv is a "bigger" vision than what Apple has for Siri. Over the next few months, we'll see Siri's presence and capability extend beyond mobile, into the home, deeper into vehicles... and possibly onto the wrist.

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Posts like yours are almost a waste of time to respond to. You can't maintain credibility when you make blanket statements that lack any detail and examples.

There's many factors that could explain why you are having difficulty using Siri.

Do multiple people use your device(s)? Siri is designed to learn its users' voices, so if multiple people are using it, that could be leading to a lower quality of recognition.

Do you pronounce your words clearly?

Do you have a strong accent? (I'm sure this is subjective)

Do you try use Siri while there is background noise, such as traffic, TV or music? This will greatly affect how well she can understand your spoken words.

So, give us some examples of where Siri is not working for you, and maybe some people can offer some suggestions to improve your experience. We're a community and love to help.

Drinking the kool-aid much?? Regardless of people's accents, country of origin, background noise, whatever, Siri is just primitive.

I love Apple but Google Now destroys Siri in every possible way.

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I think it's safe to say this is what we all hoped that Siri would eventually turn into. I still can't believe that Siri doesn't have APIs so that developers can add app-specific functionality.

I agree. Siri is a marketing gimmick that's only serviceable at best.

 

[Soccertess]

Is this apple's loss?

I think this is not a good sign for apple because:

1) I get the impression that the founders left because they felt that Apple wasn't innovative enough (could be the case that they couldn't handle big corporate culture)

2) It shows that the founders really didn't think apple was going in the right direction with siri.. like wtf have they done with it, a bit more integration?

Apple introduced Siri, but never did anything with it. It is not a core focus/priority for them, and it really comes across half ass. I hope these guys push this technology forward because we know apple isn't. At least google picked up there slack and in my opinion is on par or surpassed apple.

If this tech pans out, apple or google will acquire them. I bet google because apple is not pushing siri tech seriously (aside from marketing propaganda)

 

[Aidyn's X]

They should just copy Google's voice software, its beats Siri to death in terms of voice recognition.

Translation: "I didn't have anything to add to this thread but wanted everyone to know that I think Google is better than Apple."

 

[Zxxv]

So they didn't just sell apple a pile of **** and move on to build a better one in the hope of again selling that to apple or google?

It was apples fault they crippled Siri not these guys master plan to cash in twice?

 

[till213]

Hi Viv,

... Also, could you give me information on shovels and the location of the nearest hardware store?

Hello Dave, I realise there is an excellent wine store on the way to the hardware store - with wine on sale! By the way, the owner happens to be a data provider for your database and his advertis... sorry, ... is "intelligence information" was the highest bid in our advertisement syst... sorry again... "data processing unit" (with BIG QUOTES around it).

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Over the next few months, we'll see Siri's presence ... possibly onto the wrist.

"Siri, what time is it!" - "Go have a look yourself, sucker!"

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getting us the wonders that are Siri today.

Wow! That religious faith and belief surely is strong in this fanboi! Say, are you already queuing for the upcoming iPhone? I heard it's got to be released in a month or so...

 

[ricci]

Ok Apple, wait a little, wait for it ,wait for it, let them get along just a little bit more, spend a little bit more , wait for it, wait for it,,,, OK BUY THEM!!!!!!!

 

[wigby]

Not really true. Sometimes, bureaucracy and marketing constraints limit you from innovate. Natural language processing is a pretty mature area these days. There are tons of techniques developed in universities just waiting for being implemented and tested as a commercial solution.

Yes many solutions are working and/or being tested but I don't think that changes the fact that most will never see the light of day and even those that do will probably take years. A viable technology isn't always marketable and sometimes the timing is just dead wrong.

 

[Tech198]

Virtual hell is what i call it...

I dunno if this is good,or creepy...

Why would i want a technology verbally correct me ?

How insulting....


It's like that one show on Family guy

 

[MacSince1990]

Siri understands me just fine. Never had a problem unless I mumble. Perhaps you should consider some diction classes...

Agreed, although what she then does what that information is another story.

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Bull! This exact thing already exists and works amazingly well.

This *IS* a joke, right?

 

[rdlink]

Agreed, although what she then does what that information is another story...

Well, that's a whole other discussion...

But seriously, I find it very useful for a lot of what I need to do. I especially like the ability to dictate (even though that isn't technically Siri).

With iOS 8 on my iPhone I can even use Hey Siri to talk to Siri when my phone is on my night stand to find out what the weather is going to be.

 

[MacSince1990]

Well, that's a whole other discussion...

But seriously, I find it very useful for a lot of what I need to do. I especially like the ability to dictate (even though that isn't technically Siri).

With iOS 8 on my iPhone I can even use Hey Siri to talk to Siri when my phone is on my night stand to find out what the weather is going to be.

I still use 6.1.2, and don't find Siri very helpful. All she really does is search the web for me =/

She's good for gas, food, and other locations but that's about it.

 

[johnnyturbouk]

Wonder if Samsung will fight back, with their ultimate, virtual assistant, Chlamydia! ?