Everyone, by now, is at least familiar with Apple's digital voice assistant Siri, whether she's narrating an Apple television commercial or answering cheeky questions like, "What is the meaning of life?" and "Siri, are you single?" But how much do you know about other voice assistants: Amazon's Alexa, Microsoft's Cortana, or Google Now? They can let you play music and books, control lights and other devices in your home, and, sometimes, buy items just by calling them out ("Alexa, order more paper towels -- quick!" With all these options, you may be wondering: What's all the fuss about? What are talking assistants capable of, and which one or ones are right for you? Maybe you have one or more of these assistants and want to know how to use them more efficiently. If so, you've come to the right place! The book is an overview, giving you an idea what sorts of things you can expect from each assistant. It tells you how to acquire and set up each assistant and, in the case of Amazon's products, the cost.

A deconstruction of gender through the voices of Siri, HAL 9000, and other computers that talk Although computer-based personal assistants like Siri are increasingly ubiquitous, few users stop to ask what it means that some assistants are gendered female, others male. Why is Star Trek’s computer coded as female, while HAL 9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey is heard as male? By examining how gender is built into these devices, author Liz W. Faber explores contentious questions around gender: its fundamental constructedness, the rigidity of the gender binary, and culturally situated attitudes on male and female embodiment. Faber begins by considering talking spaceships like those in Star Trek, the film Dark Star, and the TV series Quark, revealing the ideologies that underlie space-age progress. She then moves on to an intrepid decade-by-decade investigation of computer voices, tracing the evolution from the masculine voices of the ’70s and ’80s to the feminine ones of the ’90s and ’00s. Faber ends her account in the present, with incisive looks at the film Her and Siri herself. Going beyond current scholarship on robots and AI to focus on voice-interactive computers, The Computer’s Voice breaks new ground in questions surrounding media, technology, and gender. It makes important contributions to conversations around the gender gap and the increasing acceptance of transgender people.

HUMAN-MACHINE INTERFACE The book contains the latest advances in healthcare and presents them in the frame of the Human-Machine Interface (HMI). The Human-Machine Interface (HMI) industry has witnessed the evolution from a simple push button to a modern touch-screen display. HMI is a user interface that allows humans to operate controllers for machines, systems, or instruments. Most medical procedures are improved by HMI systems, from calling an ambulance to ensuring that a patient receives adequate treatment on time. This book describes the scenario of biomedical technologies in the context of the advanced HMI, with a focus on direct brain-computer connection. The book describes several HMI tools and related techniques for analyzing, creating, controlling, and upgrading healthcare delivery systems, and provides details regarding how advancements in technology, particularly HMI, ensure ethical and fair use in patient care. Audience The target audience for this book is medical personnel and policymakers in healthcare and pharmaceutical professionals, as well as engineers and researchers in computer science and artificial intelligence.

Emerging Technologies in Computing: Theory, Practice, and Advances reviews the past, current, and future needs of technologies in the computer science field while it also discusses the emerging importance of appropriate practices, advances, and their impact. It outlines emerging technologies and their principles, challenges, and applications as well as issues involved in the digital age. With the rapid development of technologies, it becomes increasingly important for us to remain up to date on new and emerging technologies. It draws a clear illustration for all those who have a strong interest in emerging computing technologies and their impacts on society. Features: Includes high-quality research work by academicians and industrial experts in the field of computing Offers case studies related to Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Internet of Things, Multimedia Big Data, Blockchain, Augmented Reality, Data Science, Robotics, Cybersecurity, 3D Printing, Voice Assistants and Chatbots, and Future Communication Networks Serves as a valuable reference guide for anyone seeking knowledge about where future computing is heading

The two-volume set LNCS 12615 + 12616 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Intelligent Human Computer Interaction, IHCI 2020, which took place in Daegu, South Korea, during November 24-26, 2020. The 75 full and 18 short papers included in these proceedings were carefully reviewed and selected from a total of 185 submissions. The papers were organized in topical sections named: cognitive modeling and system; biomedical signal processing and complex problem solving; natural language, speech, voice and study; algorithm and related applications; crowd sourcing and information analysis; intelligent usability and test system; assistive living; image processing and deep learning; and human-centered AI applications.

Welcome to the world of Windows 10! Are you ready to become the resident Windows 10 expert in your office? Look no further! This book is your one-stop shop for everything related to the latest updates to this popular operating system. With the help of this comprehensive resource, you'll be able to back up your data and ensure the security of your network, use Universal Apps to make your computer work smarter, and personalize your Windows 10 experience. Windows 10 powers more than 400 million devices worldwide—and now you can know how to make it work better for you with Windows 10 All-in-One For Dummies. You’ll find out how to personalize Windows, use the universal apps, control your system, secure Windows 10, and so much more. Covers the most recent updates to this globally renowned operating system Shows you how to start out with Windows 10 Walks you through maintaining and enhancing the system Makes it easy to connect with universal and social apps If you’re a businessperson or Windows power-user looking to make this popular software program work for you, the buck stops here!

Summary Voice Applications for Alexa and Google Assistant is your guide to designing, building, and implementing voice-based applications for Alexa and Google Assistant. Inside, you'll learn how to build your own "skills"—the voice app term for actions the device can perform—from scratch. Foreword by Max Amordeluso. Purchase of the print book includes a free eBook in PDF, Kindle, and ePub formats from Manning Publications. You'll find registration instructions inside the print book. About the Technology In 2018, an estimated 100 million voice-controlled devices were installed in homes worldwide, and the apps that control them, like Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, are getting more powerful, with new skills being added every day. Great voice apps improve how users interact with the web, whether they're checking the weather, asking for sports scores, or playing a game. About the Book Voice Applications for Alexa and Google Assistant is your guide to designing, building, and implementing voice-based applications for Alexa and Google Assistant. You'll learn to build applications that listen to users, store information, and rely on user context, as you create a voice-powered sleep tracker from scratch. With the basics mastered, you'll dig deeper into multiuse conversational flow and other more-advanced concepts. Smaller projects along the way reinforce your new techniques and best practices. What's inside Building a call-and-response skill Designing a voice user interface Using conversational context Going multimodal Tips and best practices About the Reader Perfect for developers with intermediate JavaScript skills and basic Node.js skills. No previous experience with voice-first platforms is required. About the Author Dustin A. Coates is a developer who focuses on voice and conversational applications. He's currently the voice search lead at Algolia and is also a Google Developers Expert for Assistant as well as cohost of the VUX World podcast. Table of Contents Introduction to voice first Building a call-and-response skill on Alexa Designing a voice user interface Using entity resolution and built?in intents in Alexa skills Making a conversational Alexa skill VUI and conversation best practices Using conversation tools to add meaning and usability Directing conversation flow Building for Google Assistant Going multimodal Push interactions Building for actions on Google with the Actions SDK