One of the most exciting things about voice is the number of possibilities it opens up. Not only can voice-enabled interactions exist across a multitude of small-screened or screen-less devices, but the nature of those devices themselves will foster entirely new relationships between humans and their A.I. assistants. It will be fascinating to watch this unfurl.
A recent Fast Company piece by Mark Wilson explores the evolving space of in-ear wearables and the unique attributes of having a voice that only you can hear whispering in your ear. Not only is any shared information more private, but the experience itself will take on a very different feel.
"With the Apple Watch, I'm addressing a machine. I'm talking to a thing on my wrist. While it's got a Dick Tracy-like schtick to it, it is still a very specific invocation of a function," Mark Rolston, former CCO of Frog and founder of Argodesign, is quoted as saying. "Whereas, talking to myself, and having a ghost, angel, or devil on my shoulder, is a much more, I don't know-it has deeper psychological implications, the idea that there is someone else in my head."
An in-ear device positions the A.I. as a personal confidant. The device the assistant is housed on is no longer interacted with by sight or by touch, and the voice starts feeling like an invisible, disembodied helper. Removing friction from the interactions will likely lead to an even tighter integration of assistants into everyday life. As the technology continues to accelerate and get better acquainted with its users' wants and needs, it may start evoking feelings of having an omnipresent personal assistant who can read your mind (which we're perhaps not too far away from either).
How far away is the world of "Her" really? It's hard to say, but we are already anticipating the incredible contents-to-be of MindMeld's 2025 market research reports. (Q1 2016′s report was cited in the Fast Company article. We're glad that our research was useful in supporting Wilson's thesis.)
