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Originally Posted by Evan
Cool! Another Java developer! And an interesting looking site at that!
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Ditto for yours. I need to add you to my blogroll.
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Originally Posted by Evan
On the flip side, I wonder if ambient noise itself could be repurposed as a legitimate input. Remove the "voice" from "voice recognition" and add "auditory". With a quality (and durable) microphone, perhaps a PDA could reliably distinguish one or more speakers. Even in the absence of VR, this would provide a sensory input allowing for a guess of the number of individuals proximate to the PDA.
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I think ambient noise could be a useful input but, to pick up on the theme that Brian is emphasizing here, it's probably got to be something that simplifies the use of the device, not just something that adds a whiz-bang feature. Like it would be nice for the device to recognize it's in a noisy environment and automatically use the vibrating alarm when a call comes in or an appointment notification goes off.
The most useful thing to do with ambient noise in my opinion is to cancel it out while you're on a call or making a voice recording so your voice isn't drowned out by it. And I think that would actually be a critical development for voice recognition to be usable on mobile devices--at least in the beginning. Even noise cancellation is not a trivial thing. For it to work well in a noisy environment (without really heavy processing) I think you need a second sound sensor that is separate from the primary microphone. That starts to rub against the simple mobile device idea, but maybe you could have an unobtrusive Bluetooth mike that clips to a belt or purse strap for this purpose. Or maybe a BT headset and the receiver on the handset itself could form the two sensor points. That'd work as long as the handset isn't muffled up inside a purse or briefcase.
The first priority for mobile device makers right now is still the one that Jeff Hawkins foresaw when he started Palm: come up with mobile computers that most people feel naked without, like they do without their wristwatch or car keys. We've got a ways to go before we get there. In my opinion, it's
after that point that device makers can start to see success with features like voice recognition since that's not just a technical shift, it's also a question of cultural acceptance.