IMAGINEiftherewasadevicethatcoulddoeverythingforyou–wakeyouupeverymorningchatwithyouandtypeyoure-mails.

Thepieceoftechnologyinquestionwouldbesmartabletotellyouabouttheweatherandwherethenearestrestaurantsare.

Thegoodthingisyounolongerneedtowonderbecausesomethinglikethisalreadyexists.AnditsnameisSiri.

SiriisavoicerecognitionapplicationdesignedforAppleproductsandtheconcepthasbeenaroundforalmostayear.

WhenSirifirstcameoutitcouldonlyspeakEnglishbutnowithas“learned”lotsofnewlanguagesincludingChineseCantoneseandTaiwanesereportedTheWallStreetJournal.Soyoucangiveitordersinyourmothertongue.

Buthowcouldacellphoneoracomputer“hear”whatyouaresayingandunderstandit?Thisisallbecauseofvoicerecognitiontechnology.

Whenyouspeakyourvoicecreatesvibrations(振动)intheair–abitlikewavesinthewaterwhenyouthrowarockintothelake.Themicrophonereceivesthevibrationsandthecomputerchangesthemintodigitaldatathatisthendividedintomanyparts.Theyareanalyzedonebyonetoseewhatpronunciationseachpartstandsfor.Thecomputerthenputsthesepronunciationstogetherintopossiblewordsaccordingtoitsbuilt-indictionary.

Butfiguringoutthewordsisfarfromenough;buildingwordsintomeaningfulsentencesisthemostdifficultpart.Thecomputerhastocomparewhatithearstoalargelibraryofknownphrasesandsentencestodeterminewhattheuserissaying.

Howeverpeopledon’talwaystalkinthemoststandardwayandsometimesmakegrammaticalmistakes.Thisiswhytraditionalvoicerecognitionsoftwarealwaysrequiresyoutorememberkeywordsandtospeakinacertainway.

FortunatelySiriisn’tlikethat.It’snotjust“voicerecognition”;it’s“naturallanguageunderstanding(NLU)”.Youcanaskitthingslike“DoIneedanumbrellatoday?”anditwillknowthatyouareaskingabouttheweatheraccordingtoABCNews.

“ThekeythingisNLU–understandingwhatyoumeanandwhatyouwant”NeilGrantfromNuanceasoftwarecompanyintheUStoldTheGuardian.“Historicallyyouhadtolearnahugelonglistofcommands.AsNLUprogressesyoucansaywhatyouwantinawaythat’snaturaltoyou.”