Adobe Voco: Industry Disruption or World Destruction?

1

October

2017

5/5 (3)

During Adobe’s Sneak Peeks event last November, a new product was announced, named Voco. Said to be the ‘Photoshop of voice’ the program was demonstrated by an Adobe engineer and Jordan Peele, from comedic duo Key and Peele.

The engineer used a sample from Key’s voice and began manipulating it enthusiastically. What started off with Key saying ‘I kissed my dogs and my wife’ was changed several times. The various versions of Key’s words were met with laughter from the audience, but the final version; ‘I kissed Jordan three times’ did seem to make Peele somewhat uncomfortable.

The above situation seems innocent; some might even find it funny.
But will Voco bring us any good?

Voice manipulation is not a novelty, especially not when used to serve a comedic purpose. Among examples are the infamous videos of President Obama singing to pop songs during his speeches.

But what if our goal isn’t laughter and this tool falls in the wrong hands. What if Voco is used to make Donald Trump say he will fire missiles towards North Korea? In this day of age, where fake news is daily news and the POTUS thinks out loud 140 characters at a time, how will we tell what is real and what is not?

Technological disruptions are usually a driving force for progression and improvement, but the time has to be right for it. Governments and regulatory bodies across the world are still struggling to regulate past disruptive forces, such as Facebook and Uber. So how will this ‘Photoshop for voice’ be regulated?

Maybe 2017 isn’t the right time for Adobe Voco. Maybe the right time will never come. Maybe it is time to change our naïve view on disruptive technologies and ask ourselves if they are really making our world a better place.

References:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-15/tech-industry-disruption-ideas-that-shouldnt-see-light-of-day/8948220
https://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2014/07/disruptive-innovation

by Nikki Sonneveld (382290)

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Siri: Your virtual assistent

4

October

2016

3.67/5 (3)

Five years ago on 4 October 2011, Apple released a personal-assistant application named Siri. Siri, nowadays fully integrated into Apple’s iOS operating system, processes the voice commands of users into simple actions. For instance, one can record a message and Siri turns the recording into a written text message. How did this application develop through the last five years?

Siri was initially created by an eponymous American startup and started as an independent application. The app could recognize only simple voice commands and answer them. Apple bought the startup in 2010 and first introduced the function in 2011 in the new iPhone 4S. After a year, the iPad users gained access to Sire. Mac users are only able to use Siri since this year.

In the early stage after introducing Siri, using the application in the Netherlands was difficult. The only languages which were supported were general and common languages like French, English, and German. Besides, Siri was not aware of locations in the Netherlands, so the app could only suggest restaurants and other hotspots in the United States. The Dutch language update arrived in 2015. This update made it possible to dictate Dutch text messages. In addition, a lot of Dutch locations are now familiar with Siri.

Not too long ago, developers gained access to Siri. This is a great leap forward for Siri because other application can now implement Sire in their systems. For instance, you can not only dictate a regular text message now but also a Whatsapp message.

Your conversation with Siri is still improving each day because Apple is using a self-learning technology for Siri. This technology helps the application recognize more words and more sentences. Think about the possibilities which will arise if Siri keeps learning to better understand voice commands. Maybe, in five more years, we will be able to fully control our mobile devices using our voice.

Do you often use Siri? And have you noticed the improvements of Siri in the last couple of years?

(http://ipadhulp.com/handleidingen/hoe-werkt-siri/)
(http://www.nu.nl/mobiel/4330702/slimme-apple-assistent-siri-bestaat-vijf-jaar.html)
(https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2016/10/04/apples-slimme-assistent-siri-is-vijf-a1524715)

 

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