Digital voice assistants have been around for a while. However, this year it appears that Alexa, and Google Home are on the cusp of being household, car and office staples.
What Does The General Public Have To Say?
Nearly half of U.S. adults (46%) say they now use these applications to interact with smartphones and other devices, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted this spring.
While uptake of voice assistants appears to be lagging; it’s bound to grow as Amazon, Google, Apple, and Microsoft extend the reach of their respective assistants. They are constantly updating releases with new features. And, they offer distinct use cases on improvements.
61% of respondents said they don’t interact with voice assistants because they aren’t interested in them. Pew research also suggested: Around one-quarter of this group say they do not use voice assistants. The reason – none of the devices they own have this feature (28%). Or, because, they are concerned about privacy (27%). And a slightly smaller share (18%) reports that voice assistants are too complicated to use.
However, Google and Amazon are making moves to address these concerns, by adding new features and extending the availability of their voice assistants. Google Assistant is now available on Android smartphones running versions Android 5.0 Lollipop and up, meaning it will be supported on 80% of active Android smartphones, up from 53%.
Digital Voice Assistance and The IoT:
A lot of people use voice assistants as “remote controls” of other connected systems such as car locks and home lighting, cooking and heating systems. About a quarter of voice assistant adopters (26%) say they use the assistants to connect remotely to other things.
In conjunction with being able to leverage the technology for tangible “control”; in voice app development will allow brands to create a new more robust individualized experience for online shoppers.
“Skills” for Alexa by Amazon are like apps for smartphones. For those who use skills – this opens up a world of possibilities for what voice activated assistants can do.
Businesses are also able to develop Amazon Alexa skills that connect the convenient voice-activated experience with their brand.