Apple's VocalIQ takeover could hint at Siri upgrades for WWDC and beyond

Assuming it makes it into Siri upgrades that may start as soon as next month's WWDC, technology Apple acquired from VocalIQ could greatly improve the assistant's accuracy and contextual awareness, one report claims.

Prior to Apple's takeover, VocalIQ's technology scored over 90 percent in difficult accuracy tests — compared with roughly 20 percent for Siri, Google Now, or Microsoft's Cortana, a source told Business Insider. This includes interpreting complex commands an assistant like Siri would normally fail on, such as "Find a nearby Chinese restaurant with open parking and Wi-Fi that's kid-friendly."

Apple bought VocalIQ before the company could even launch an app, and reportedly let them continue to work out of Cambridge in the U.K. on integrating their tech into Siri.

One of the most significant features of the technology is said to be its ability to remember context permanently, such that in the Chinese restaurant example a person could say "Find me a Mexican restaurant instead" an hour later and still have it remember the original criteria.

The system is said to work so well that users may never have to glance at a device's screen to confirm anything. It may also be better at filtering out ambient noise, and adapting to accents, a notorious problem with current voice assistants.

It's speculated that Apple could want this screen-free experience for two upcoming hardware products, namely its Amazon Echo competitor and/or the Apple Car. The company would presumably bring Siri improvements to all its platforms however, such as iPhones, iPads, and the Apple TV.

Next month Apple is expected to showcase a Siri SDK for third-party developers, which even without VocalIQ will expand the assistant's usefulness simply by letting more apps tap into voice commands.

16 Comments

nbert 8 Years · 1 comment

About 8 years ago

Can you check the 'Cambridge' in this article, the last I heard, VoiceIQ were a UK company based in Cambridge - UK. Not Mass.

rhonin 13 Years · 60 comments

Kind of neat however the biggest issue I have with Siri (and why I now seldom use it) is the ability for Siri to give me a clear cut answer that I can easily use. Understanding what I say and mean is nice. Without the knowledge needed to do what I want with it .... Siri IQ boost Siriously needed.

elijahg 18 Years · 2842 comments

AppleInsider said:

...technology Apple acquired from VoiceIQ ...

...VoiceIQ's technology...

Apple bought VoiceIQ...

...even without VoiceIQ will...

Nice one AI/Roger Fingas, it's VocalIQ.

Apple Acquires Artificial-Intelligence Startup VocalIQ - WSJ

nbert said:
Can you check the 'Cambridge' in this article, the last I heard, VoiceIQ were a UK company based in Cambridge - UK. Not Mass.
And yes, it's based in Cambridge, UK. I really hope this improves Apple's fuzzy logic not only in Siri, but other areas such as Maps search. All my problems with Apple Maps stem from its search. I ask Siri to take me to Canterbury for example, and despite iOS knowing I frequent Canterbury often (offering directions in the notification centre), it decides I would rather drive to Canterbury in New Zealand. That's just great, since I live in the UK and Canterbury, NZ is about 12,000 miles away, and Canterbury, UK is usually less 100.

ireland 18 Years · 17436 comments

Is TechInsider part of Business Insider or did BI just steal their story and claim it as their own? Something they are known to do.

elijahg said:

I really hope this improves Apple's fuzzy logic not only in Siri, but other areas such as Maps search. All my problems with Apple Maps stem from its search. I ask Siri to take me to Canterbury for example, and despite iOS knowing I frequent Canterbury often (offering directions in the notification centre), it decides I would rather drive to Canterbury in New Zealand. That's just great, since I live in the UK and Canterbury, NZ is about 12,000 miles away, and Canterbury, UK is usually less 100.

Haha, fun example. Yes Search in Maps is rubbish. One tiny mistake and it leads to no results for me, or like you even without a mistake assumes I want to drive to South America or smtn.

I remember iTunes search not so long ago would be thrown off by misplacing an apostrophe or adding one in when there shouldn't be any (you know how song names are unintuitive often). I believe that's fixed now in iTunes. I reported it a few times over a couple of years. Maps search feels like this often and has terrible POI gaps sometimes.

In other news my brother's car company charges €230 for a download file to update his GPS in his car with a UI that sucks donkey dick. I guess things could be worse :P