This post is from our head of design Jenni McKienzie. We have a summer intern! My daughters go (“went” for one of them, as of two weeks ago) to Plano Academy High School where everybody is required to do at least a 30-hour internship before they graduate. Most students do theirs between junior and senior year, …
Happy Good News at Banter
– This post is from our CEO Susan Hura. Celebrations all around at Banter this week! Although Eric Holcombe has been with us for many months, today we are officially welcoming Eric as Banter’s Chief Operating Officer. We’ve already been benefiting from Eric’s deep experience in professional services, IT strategy, and SaaS, so we’re glad …
“Smart” Devices: Sometimes Dumber Than Bricks
This post is from our head of design Jenni McKienzie. Because I work in voice and because we like gadgets and toys, we have multiple smart speakers and devices at our house. Both my girls requested speakers and outlets in their rooms to control their lamps. The other day, daughter #2 asked me if we could …
A New Kind of Creepy
A decade ago I co-authored a paper about customization of IVRs, and we discussed how too much can be creepy. My, how times have changed. We now expect every system we interact with to know who we are and what our history with that system or company is. It’s not that we want them to know everything, but we want them to know all the stuff that makes our lives easier.
Talking The Talk
Your Google Assistant can now talk like John Legend, thanks to WaveNet speech synthesis. Charming and a nice proof point for WaveNet’s unique approach, although PinDrop’s software spotted it as a fake. Researchers have been playing with speech synthesis for over a century, believe it or not. Check out the Bell Labs Voder in 1939, …
“When Do The Longhorns Play?”
– This post is from our head of design Jenni McKienzie. Go Longhorns! The Banter Team. I am an unabashed Longhorn sports fan. Although I haven’t been to Austin to watch a game in years, I do like to keep up with my alma mater on TV. Back in the days when we still got …
Yes, People Are Listening…They Have To
I just read an article about the shocking revelation that there are people listening to the recordings made by the smart speakers. The thing is, if you understand how natural language processing works, this isn’t surprising at all…
Can An AI Learn Language The Way Humans Do?
If an AI could learn language like humans do – that is, through building associations between sounds, things in the world, and meaning – would the AI be a more competent conversational agent? That doesn’t mean an AI would truly “understand” the meaning of words in the same way humans do. But it would greatly …
People Expect Conversations
Here’s a good read about voice technology from the Engineering VP for Google Assistant. Key point: people expect conversations. Which is why understanding people’s goals for a conversation is a critical part of conversational design. Quoting Scott Huffman: When people start using voice assistants, we often see very simple commands. But very quickly, expectations go …
MyPetDoc Is Literally Everywhere
We’re proud to share the news that MyPetDoc is now on Google Assistant. Which means you can launch it from an Android phone, an iOS device, or on any smart device where Google Home / Google Assistant is available. Which means our design and technology is pretty much available everywhere. Android users, all you need …