A talking washing machine on display at CeBit this week could pave the way to home electrical devices that respond to voice commands--and can even help inexperienced users to operate them
Published:
13 March 2003 y., Thursday
The German company Speech Experts is demonstrating a prototype of the machine with voice-recognition capabilities at the CeBit technology trade show, held this week in Hannover, Germany. Called Hermine, the device is being developed in partnership with Siemens, but Speech Experts believe that a commercial model could be in stores as early as 2004--if their prototype proves popular enough.
Hermine is designed to help people who are foxed by the complexity of modern washing machines, with their wide variety of program types. Speech Experts demonstrated on Wednesday that when a user told Hermine what clothes they needed to clean, it could tell how they should be washed.
Hermine could also be programmed by voice--understanding commands such as "prewash," "press wash cycle at 60 degrees Celsius," or "wait 30 minutes before starting."
Speech Experts have also tried to give Hermine something of a personality. When told that a certain garment has been stained with red wine, it responds by recommending beer in future--as beer stains are easier to remove. Upon being told that some diapers had to be washed, the electronic washing machine emitted an anguished yelp.
This version of Hermine has a vocabulary of several hundred German words, but Speech Experts explained that a future version would be designed to understand up to 4,000 words in several languages.
Šaltinis:
CNET News.com
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
The use of animals in scientific experiments could soon be reduced by new legislation, approved by the Agriculture Committee on Monday, which strives to strike the right balance between improving animal welfare and assisting research against diseases.
more »
EU holidaymakers travelling by plane or train are protected by a whole range of consumer rights.
more »
The European Commission welcomes the European Parliament voting in favour of a regulation on rights of passengers travelling by sea and by inland waterways.
more »
Mobile phones, computers, TVs - we like them but where do they go when we are finished with them? In the worst case they can be dismantled by hand for scrap by children in developing countries.
more »
Following the death of President Algirdas Mykolas Brazauskas, on 28 June Lithuanian Embassies abroad opened the door for people, who want to sign the Condolence Book.
more »
Passengers will enjoy easier access to information about their rights when travelling by rail or air thanks to a Europe-wide publicity campaign in 23 languages launched by the European Commission today.
more »
Lithuania has been grieved by the heartbreaking news about the decease of Algirdas Mykolas Brazauskas, former President, Prime Minister, Signatory to the Act of Independence, and the first Head of State of Lithuania after the Restoration of Independence.
more »
We have lost a warm person and a prominent politician who had been at the wheel of state at challenging and difficult stages in the history of Lithuania.
more »
Europe's financial and economic crisis is increasingly becoming a social crisis too, and is testing European solidarity to the limit.
more »
In a move to enforce a style of dress they believe is in accordance with sharia law, the authorities in the Muslim Indonesian province of West Aceh are handing out long skirts to women wearing tight pants.
more »