voice recognition - News, Features, and Slideshows

News

• Is there a knee surgeon near me? nib launches Alexa skill

  ​Health insurer nib has launched an Alexa skill for customers to find nearby health providers and answer common insurance queries.

• Google marks NAIDOC Week with indigenous voices on Assistant, doodle

  ​Tennis legend Evonne Goolagong Cawley, academic Dr Jakelin Troy and author Alexis Wright are among the “inspirational indigenous voices” sharing their stories via Google Assistant.

• ANZ trials voice biometrics in app and call centre

  ​ANZ will be adding voice biometrics to its mobile app so customers can authorise large payments with their voice. The biometrics technology, by Nuance, will also be introduced into the bank’s call centres to replace security questions.

• Domino's serves up voice assistant and automation for franchisees

  ​​Domino’s has released a voice assistant so customers can order pizza by chatting to a bot, an Australian first in the quick serve restaurant industry, the company said.

• Facebook says 'oui' to AI with Paris research team

  Along with its enormous success, Facebook has a giant, growing TMI (too much information) problem: how to help its almost one and a half billion users sort through the onslaught of news reports, photos, messages, and posts generated on the social network around the world every day.

• RMIT drone can think like an airline pilot

  Researchers at RMIT University have developed a drone equipped with technology that allows it to automatically communicate through human language with an air traffic controller if it loses connection with a remote pilot on the ground.

• Microsoft's Windows Phone 8.1 update takes Cortana to China, UK, and three other countries

  Microsoft's voice-activated digital assistant Cortana is coming to China in a beta version nicknamed "Xiao Na", as part of several new functions packed into a Windows Phone 8.1 update.

• ATO to listen to voice biometrics

  The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has stated plans to turn on voice authentication to verify customer identities by the end of December at the latest.

• Australian Passport Offices to deepen use of facial recognition

  The Australian Passport Office (APO) seeks to expand its use of biometric technology, according a request for tender published today.

• Microsoft uses Kinect to interpret sign language from deaf people

  Microsoft's Kinect technology, already adept at reading hand and body movements, is incorporating sign language into its motion-sensing vocabulary as part of a new research project meant to help the deaf.

• Text Analytics Can Help Businesses Soothe Upset Callers

  An Ernst & Young report says that text analytics and voice-recognition software can help customer-service reps solve problems instead of trying to cross-sell an unhappy caller.

• Samsung and Intel invest in speech analysis company Expect Labs

  Intel Capital, Samsung Venture Investment and Telefónica Digital have all invested in Expect Labs, whose technology is used to analyze and understand conversations in real-time and find related information.

• How your authentication scheme could hurt your business

  Consumers often fail to perform transactions online due to authentication failure. But while they struggle, they also distrust websites with weak authentication procedures.

• AI found better at diagnosing, treating patients, than doctors

  New research by Indiana University shows using artificial intelligence to understand and predict the outcomes of medical treatment could reduce health care costs by more than 50% while also improving patient outcomes by nearly the same amount.

• Voice 'fingerprints' may plug call-center security leaks

  You've heard such stories. Mat Honan, a reporter for Wired magazine had almost his entire digital life erased when a fraudster used social media account information to trick Apple and Google into allowing him access to Honan's account information.