Viv Labs, the company that previously created the popular virtual assistant Siri, has announced plans to introduce next week even more “smart” model. Having access to a cloud-based database of information, Viv will be able to solve the most complex tasks.
At the time the virtual assistant Siri made a lot of noise, however, further than the execution of simple commands and search queries are propagated, and radical changes for all time of its existence, the technology has not been. The development team of Siri, a few years ago left the walls of Apple, organized a startup Viv Labs and is developing a virtual assistant is a new generation, with elements of artificial intelligence and the ability to analyze and learn.
The main drawback of Siri developers call an artificially created restrictions and the inability to make a chain of several actions depending on existing conditions. Viv Labs goal is to build a virtual assistant who will be able to use the maximum possible number of sources of information and take into account a lot of various conditions: from location and time of day — up to the personal preferences of the owner.
As an example, the developers cite a situation when you need along the way to visit find a store that sells cheap “Philadelphia” cheese for rolls. This question does not handle Siri — at best it will only tell you the address of the nearest store, but artificial intelligence, working to Viv Labs, will be able to get data not only about the store, but will also appeal to culinary sites, analyze the composition of the meals and offer suitable products from the right price range and sold in an appropriate store. In the same way the phrase “I’m drunk” Viv will react by calling a taxi to your home or by contacting type of service “sober driver”, if you come by car.
Viv Labs worked on the project over the last four years. Personal assistant hiding under a veil of secrecy, but the few who came into contact with him, spoke of him in glowing terms. “The key is to look to the future,” says Oren, Etzioni, renowned expert on artificial intelligence who heads the Institute for artificial intelligence named Paul Allen. — If Viv Labs will succeed in the future will be a large number of intelligent assistants and related multibillion-dollar industry”.
No doubt Viv will face tough competition from Apple and Google, and developing Microsoft — Cortana — already looks to be much more advanced than existing methods, but it is worth remembering that a brilliant team of Viv Labs had once been hired by Apple for $200 million, and expect it is possible the most incredible things.
