Amazon Voice ID Could Change How We Communicate With Digital Assistants
What is Amazon Voice ID?
Amazon’s voice assistant technology, Alexa, can answer questions and perform countless tasks just by hearing a voice. Soon, it might be able to distinguish between speakers based on those voices, according to Time.
According to “people familiar” with Amazon’s Alexa strategy, the company is working on a feature that would match the person speaking to a voice sample, or “voice print.” In doing so, the assistant could verify an identity before performing a task such as placing an order at Amazon.com.
A user would, for example, be able to set it so that a parent’s voice would be required to make a credit card purchase or turn on the coffee machine through the Echo.
Time notes that the underlying technology behind the feature, internally named Amazon Voice ID, is already completed. Amazon must now decide how to use the feature in its line of Echo products. Privacy concerns might also delay the feature’s launch.
Amazon Echo users can already set up multiple profiles but must say “switch accounts” or use the Alexa app to do so. Amazon Voice ID would take this to a new level.
Beyond shopping and authentication, giving Alexa knowledge about who is speaking may allow it to play music that’s more closely aligned to a specific user’s tastes.
I wouldn’t be at all surprised seeing Amazon Voice ID arrive on next-generation Echo devices later this year. Hopefully, Apple is working on a similar feature for Siri.
Which benefits could you see in using Amazon Voice ID? Leave your comments below.
See also:
- Plays all your music from Amazon Music, Spotify, Pandora, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, and more using just your voice
- Answers questions, reads audiobooks and the news, reports traffic and weather, provides sports scores and schedules
- Controls lights, switches, thermostats, and much more
- Hears you from across the room with far-field voice recognition