well, I have Cerebral palsy. It's effect my speech somewhat off, and i email Amazon about this question when it first came out and they said "I it in English it understand anything" but i waited to get it cheaper, just in case it's wouldn't understand me. I am just disappointed
Amazon Echo
- Thread starter Ilya
- Start date
- Latest activity Latest activity:
- Replies 220
- Views 20K
They should design into the software a learning routine for for people with some kind of handicap and say maybe people that English is not their first language and things like that.
I don't blame you I would be disappointed too.
I don't blame you I would be disappointed too.
I don't to what extent it can learn, but I can tell you even my youngest nephew who really does not speak well yet can most times have Alexa understand him. It's all in the voice training. Once I have him do that she understands him most of the time. I had him slow down a little and that helped. I notice the same phrases used most often seem to get recognized the quickest. I can have it recognize me even in noisy environments but for him it does need to be a little quieter.
this is why i won't get an echo. I'm in the exact same situation as you. also can't use a tablet
Sorry to hear that guys. We just set up our 3rd in the house, lol (Echo and 2 v1 Dots) and couldn't be happier.
Like most things computerly, Alexa readily recognizes things that are presented relatively consistently. While a toddler may not have a large vocabulary, what they do say is voiced with the requisite consistency.
Those with "shaky" voices don't produce the consistent patterns that these simple devices require to do their magic. To be able to filter out the various affectations is well beyond the scope of a $150 device just as a pair of Airpods won't mightily improve the listening experience of someone with a significant hearing impairment or a multi-megapixel display restore the viewing experience of someone who is visually impaired.
I thought the Echo/Dots digitized the voice and sent it up to the Amazon cloud for processing.
Whether done on a tabletop or at a server farm, filtering of that scale requires gobs of resources. It is folly to assume that "The Cloud" is somehow a free and unlimited resource; especially with respect to processing power. This is a lot more sophisticated than a spell check or an recalc of a personal budget.
My concern with Alexa is similar to Siri and even the new Voice Remote on the Hopper 2/3. If your upstream Internet connection sux (U-verse ASDL, anyone?) then you're experience won't be "magical" like the commercials show. Since I Fold, there are multiple times during the day when I'm uploading megabytes of Folded Protein data to Stanford. While that's happening, my downstream Internet is severely impacted. If I happen to ask Siri to do something during that time, I'm likely to get a "Hmmm, I seem to be having trouble accessing the Internet. Try again later."
And that's before the while "who's listening?" to my Alexa audio stream. I'm sure Echo uses a VOX technology so it isn't constantly streaming data from an empty house to Amazon, only when there has been a rise in sound levels, but still, I imagine during a party or while watching TV that Echo is sending a constant upload to the Cloud. That would probably bring my crappy ASDL to its knees.
I did see the v2 Dot is being bundled with many Home Automation devices like Philips Hue Starter Kit or the ecobee 3 thermostat where the Dot is effectively free. Tempting to try one out, even with all my concerns stated above.
And that's before the while "who's listening?" to my Alexa audio stream. I'm sure Echo uses a VOX technology so it isn't constantly streaming data from an empty house to Amazon, only when there has been a rise in sound levels, but still, I imagine during a party or while watching TV that Echo is sending a constant upload to the Cloud. That would probably bring my crappy ASDL to its knees.
I did see the v2 Dot is being bundled with many Home Automation devices like Philips Hue Starter Kit or the ecobee 3 thermostat where the Dot is effectively free. Tempting to try one out, even with all my concerns stated above.
Amazon Echo/Dot are On but until the Keyword is addressed which turns on a light which give you feedback then it becomes active. The Tap you must physically tap the microphone icon to activate the unit and no Keyword is needed.
Amazon IA learns your needs the more you use it. A lot of new adopters jump right in and forget to read any instructions. If they just open the Alexa App or go to Amazon under Echo,Dot,Tap and LEARN the nuances there be less confusion. Now, when it come smart devices a person needs to look up words which are "primary" to the device an avoid their use. Next use unique words not numbers and have clear distinction between the smart appliances. Also some word example "guest" unless you pronounce the word very clearly will be misinterpreted.
Amazon IA learns your needs the more you use it. A lot of new adopters jump right in and forget to read any instructions. If they just open the Alexa App or go to Amazon under Echo,Dot,Tap and LEARN the nuances there be less confusion. Now, when it come smart devices a person needs to look up words which are "primary" to the device an avoid their use. Next use unique words not numbers and have clear distinction between the smart appliances. Also some word example "guest" unless you pronounce the word very clearly will be misinterpreted.
As you might imagine, the Echo and Dot don't really pay any attention until they are directly addressed (typically with the word "Alexa"). The Tap is deaf until you press a button.
Only if you put a haunting Billy Joel song about a Long Island commercial fishing boat on repeat could there be much confusion.
So, there are enough local smarts that the Echo/Dot knows its name and then sends the audio stream following "Alexa"? I have no experience, so I should go find someone who owns one.
This assumes that you can more or less unwaveringly pronounce the address word and other words in English (only). If you're at all familiar with Google's voice recognition, it is much like that. Personal voice recognition has come a long way since Siri first butchered it.
There are tens of thousands of comments on the Echo on Amazon and elsewhere.
I have no problems with my Echo at all. It has no trouble understanding me or my wife, or even my mother in law. No special efforts at precise speech.
That's just the basic of what it can do. It has progressed exponentially. I can ask about sport scores, when any team is playing, weather for most anywhere, distances between places. It can be the center for a home system of turning on/off lights, controlling thermostats, etc... There are specific skills that you can enable that allows it to a wide range of things. It plays music from your Amazon Prime music playlists, or from Amazon "Radio" stations or from actual radio stations using Tunein radio or Iheart including podcasts. It can read books.So, there are enough local smarts that the Echo/Dot knows its name and then sends the audio stream following "Alexa"? I have no experience, so I should go find someone who owns one.
We use it mostly for Tunein and Audible. Prime music for misc stuff.
It understands my 2 and 5 year old reasonably well too.
It understands my 2 and 5 year old reasonably well too.
I get a weekly e-mail from Amazon about the new things my Echo and Dot can do--long e-mails detailing how to get/connect via apps and internet. I changed the wake word on my Dot to "Echo." No problems at all so far with TV wake-up, though I still get that occasionally from the Echo (still named Alexa). Dots are on sale now for $49 (tax extra) and again have to be ordered through an Echo. That will give me a second Dot for the kitchen. I want it to "read" recipes to me. lol
Dots are on sale now for $49 (tax extra) and again have to be ordered through an Echo. That will give me a second Dot for the kitchen. I want it to "read" recipes to me. lol
