Productivity - Beyond the Keyboard - AI is taking the world by storm

The time isn't far when being perched in front of a screen, tapping keys with your fingers, will appear to be inconceivably awkward and bizarrely antiquated. Although the present generation of smart device users might have become adept at typing with two thumbs, scientists state, that undoubtedly the next phase of human communication with the computer would be typing in thin ear whilst looking over a picturesque ocean, maybe.

As the size of a PC is shrinking by the day moving towards virtual to a large extent, analysts are considering different ways for us to collaborate with these systems. Although voice acknowledgment programming and software are improving, clients are impervious to conversing with a big screen, let’s say of that of a laptop, in public. If the eventual fate of screens is augmented reality—as Tim Cook, Apple's CEO has anticipated, how are we going to communicate with it?

The inquiry isn't only a philosophical one but has real business applications. As per Ola Kristensson, a professor in Interactive Systems Engineering at the University of Cambridge, work areas will be, for the most part, free from equipment: no workstations, no telephones, and, positively, no keyboard. A move away from prohibitive un-ergonomic keyboards and consoles would help those who suffer from syndromes like carpal tunnel, repetitive strain injury, back pain, and eye strain, which have turned out to be the most irksome physical issues, plaguing the modern fast-paced working individuals.

Let's pause for a second: If we're expelling the keyboard, shouldn't we do away with the need to move the fingers as though they're touching a keyboard?

Innovation in technology has already enabled individuals to type just by taking a gander at the letters. Early eye-gaze typing, created for grown-ups with proper cognitive senses but diminished mobility, was once moderate and stressing, yet has progressed significantly. Recently, Kristensson displayed a strategy for typing, consolidating eye-tracking with prediction, implying that a client can slide their vision from letter to letter without “dwelling” on a particular letter for long; similar to the android keyboards, allowing users to type by sliding fingers across alphabets.

The Tobii-Dynavox, a robust tablet-like computer that can be controlled with only the gaze, is one example of “dwell-free” eye technology being marketed to people with decreased motor function.

Now, from vision moving on to voice, earlier this year, Google CEO Sundar Pichai claimed that the voice searches on Google, add up to over 20% of the searches on mobile phones. It’s a huge metric that shows we’re getting more and more comfortable talking to our silicon sidekicks, and that voice recognition is getting to a point where it can be tangibly useful.

For instance, Mycroft has positioned itself as the first open source voice assistant which isn’t just a cryptic AI but is easy to use and works on multiple platforms. Another such AI for businesses is Alexa that acts as an intelligent assistant for businesses making them more productive, even with the Alexa devices they already have at home

The Google of China, Baidu, have been striving to perfect a keyboard for a smartphone that is controlled by voice, TalkType, only available for android users as of now. This modified keyboard has multiple purposes; promptly calling out for a GIF, reviewing nearby eateries, making a call, sending a message, but the main star is voice recognition. As per researches conducted by Stanford University, the inevitable future of a smartphone or a laptop lies in the customer not tapping on the glass but talking to the system.

However, there are yet many hurdles we need to overcome to completely go hands-free with our present technology. Voice and vision recognition technologies still have issues while identifying personal nouns, punctuation dictation and longer dictations become arduous and limited by the time window of the screen kept activated without the user touching it.Almost every tech company is in the race to perfect such systems and make them deployable. The accelerated speed at which we are bringing new innovations to technology; it’s certain that very soon, it’d be regular to probably lay on a recliner and write a whole email, even a novel by using a pair of glasses or just talking to a gadget.

--Mr. Mishu Ahluwalia, founder of Gohive, a co-working space in Delhi NCR.

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