Voice Input

Voice input to control computers and a variety of IoT devices is becoming more prevalent and has been increasing since the technology has finally caught up with interpretation of a variety of voices, dialects, and accents.

This is a great benefit to the estimated 781 million adults over the age of 15 who are illiterate. People who cannot read finally have easier access to the internet, typing, and information through smart devices, such as Amazon's Alexa, Google, Cortanna, Siri, and Bixby. There are hundreds of apps that let users search, write emails, take notes and set appointments with their smartphone. Amazon says more than 1.8 million e-books support audio books, which automatically read aloud the words on the page.

Predictions abound -

• “50% of all searches will be voice searches by 2020” according to comscore
• “About 30% of searches will be done without a screen by 2020.” according to Mediapos
• “We estimate there will be 21.4 million smart speakers in the US by 2020” according to Activate
• “By 2019, the voice recognition market will be a $601 million industry”, according to a report from Technavio.
• “This year (2017), 25 million devices will be shipped, bringing the total number of voice-first devices to 33 million in circulation.” based on a new study by VoiceLabs
• “By the end of 2018 the Google Assistant will reach 95 percent of all eligible Android phones worldwide” according to Techcrunch.