What is iPhone Siri?


Siri (pronounced /ˈsɪri/) is an intelligent software assistant and knowledge navigator functioning as a personal assistant application for iOS. The application uses a natural language user interface to answer questions, make recommendations, and perform actions by delegating requests to a set ofweb services. Apple claims that the software adapts to the user’s individual preferences over time and personalizes results, as well as accomplishing tasks such as finding recommendations for nearby restaurants, or getting directions.

Siri was originally introduced as an iOS application available in the App Store. Siri was acquired by Apple Inc. on April 28, 2010. Siri had announced that their software would be available for BlackBerry and for Android-powered phones, but all development efforts for non-Apple platforms were cancelled after Apple’s purchase.

Siri is now an integrated part of iOS 5, and available only on the iPhone 4S, launched on October 4, 2011. Despite this, hackers were able to adapt Siri in previous iPhones. On November 8, 2011, Apple publicly announced that it had no plans to support Siri on any of its older devices.

Founding

Siri was founded in 2007 by Dag Kittlaus (CEO), Adam Cheyer (VP Engineering), and Tom Gruber (CTO/VP Design), together with Norman Winarsky from SRI International’s venture group. On October 13, 2008, Siri announced it had raised an $8.5 million Series A financing round, led by Menlo Ventures and Morgenthaler Ventures. In November 2009, Siri raised a $15.5 million Series B financing round from the same investors as in their previous round, but led by Hong-Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing. Dag Kittlaus left his position as CEO of Siri at Apple after the launch of the iPhone 4S.

DARPA involvement

With Siri, Apple is using the results of over 40 years of research funded by DARPA via SRI International’s Artificial Intelligence Center through the Personalized Assistant that Learns Program and Cognitive Agent that Learns and Organizes Program CALO.

This includes the combined work from research teams from Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Massachusetts, the University of Rochester, the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, Oregon State University, the University of Southern California, and Stanford University. This technology has come a long way with dialog and natural language understanding, machine learning, evidential and probabilistic reasoning, ontology and knowledge representation, planning, reasoning and service delegation.

iPhone Application

Siri was launched first as an application available on Apple’s App Store in the US. It integrated with services such as OpenTable, Google Maps, MovieTickets and TaxiMagic. Using voice recognition technology from Nuance and their service partners, users could make reservations at specific restaurants, buy movie tickets or get a cab by dictating instructions in natural language to Siri. Siri was acquired by Apple on April 28, 2010, and the original application ceased to function on October 15, 2011.

iOS integration

The iPhone 4S introduced a new automated voice control system called “Siri”, unique to the 4S,[15] that allows the user to give the iPhone commands, which it can execute and respond to. For example, iPhone commands such as “What is the weather going to be like?” will generate a response such as “The weather is to be cloudy and rainy and drop to 54 degrees today”. These commands can vary greatly and control almost every section of the phone. The commands given do not have to be specific and can be used with natural language. Siri can be accessed by holding down the home button for an extra amount of time (compared to using the regular function). An impact of Siri, as pointed out by Apple video messages, is that it is much easier and/or possible for people to use device functions while driving, exercising, or when they have their hands full.[12] It also means people with trouble reading, seeing, or typing can access the phone more easily.

Its not clear what the impact of Siri speaking in public will be, but it does not have to speak out loud and can be used with headphones. One interface feature of Siri is that it can be activated by holding the phone to a person’s head. The iPhone 4S has a proximity sensor.

At launch Siri supports French, English, and German languages. In one early review, German Siri handled the language well but needed more information from supporting databases, such as route information and possibly the Wolfram Alpha ”Computational Knowledge Engine”. One early review noted its good performance in English, although it did confuse “4″ and “for” at one point. The New York Times said Siri’s ability to comprehend was “mind-blowing”.

The Harvard Business School described Siri as the new phone’s most interesting feature, and how well it works could make or break it. Apple says the A5 is a reason why Siri may not come to other devices even with iOS 5 upgrades. However, some gadget reviewers believes otherwise. Several smartphone reviewing sites have pointed out that Apple is making Siri exclusive to the iPhone 4S because that is the only selling point of the phone compared to the previous iPhone 4.

Siri is supported by the A5 chip and currently an iPhone 4S exclusive. Siri also needs internet access to function. When used for the first time, Siri does not require setup but does adapt to a user’s voice over time, and can also be taught certain things directly. A number of aspects of the software can be configured, such as language and its voice feedback ability (its ability to talk back).

At launch Apple said Siri is still in Beta, and it has a certain set of abilities with restrictions, such as being able to dictate texts but not emails, and only controlling certain apps. Nevertheless one area it may be useful is driving and exercise activities. It is integrated with Apple’s Find My Friends program (which debuted at the same time as the 4S), so Siri can potentially answer questions like “Where is my wife?”[46] When it is enabled, Apple’s Find My Friends lets a social group know where each other are and Siri can use this information to answer questions. Siri can be taught information, so it knows who a person is referring to when they use generic terminology on that device.

Recently iPhone 4S users reported that there is a security Loophole in iPhone’s Siri which allows unauthorized users to bypass the passcode lock to perform tasks like making calls and sending messages with the help of Siri. However, this loophole can be dissolved simply by changing settings on the iPhone 4S.

The British English voice for Siri is provided by Jon Briggs.

Research and development

Siri is a spin-out from the SRI International Artificial Intelligence Center, and is an offshoot of the DARPA-funded CALO project.

Siri’s primary technical areas focus on a Conversational Interface, Personal Context Awareness, and Service Delegation.

Siri’s speech recognition engine is thought to be provided by Nuance Communications, a speech technology company, although this has not been officially acknowledged by either Apple or Nuance.

The United Kingdom male voice is called “Daniel” and is voiced by Jon Briggs, a former technology journalist who recorded “Daniel” for Scansoft, who merged with Nuance Communications, a company that works on Siri with Apple.

The original Siri application relied upon a number of partners, including:

  • OpenTable, Gayot, CitySearch, BooRah, Yelp, Yahoo Local, ReserveTravel, Localeze for restaurant and business questions and actions;
  • Eventful, StubHub, and LiveKick for events and concert information;
  • MovieTickets, RottenTomatoes and the New York Times for movie information and reviews;
  • Bing Answers, and Wolfram Alpha for factual question answering;
  • Bing, Yahoo and Google for web search.

The sources in Apple’s implementation of Siri differ from the original iPhone application. It integrates with default iOS functionality, such as contacts, calendars and text messages. It also supports search from Google, Bing, Yahoo, Wolfram Alpha and Wikipedia. Siri also works with Google Maps and Yelp! search in the United States only.

Reception

Siri was met with a very positive reaction for its ease of use and practicality, as well as its apparent “personality”. Google’s executive chairman and former chief, Eric Schmidt, has conceded that Siri could pose a “competitive threat” to the company’s core search business. Google generates a large portion of its revenue from clickable ad links returned in the context of searches. The threat comes from the fact that Siri is a non-visual medium, therefore not affording users with the opportunity to be exposed to the clickable ad links. Writing in The Guardian, journalist Charlie Brookerdescribed Siri’s tone as “servile” while also noting that it worked “annoyingly well.”

However, Siri was criticized by organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union and NARAL Pro-Choice America after users found that it would not provide information about the location of birth control or abortion providers, sometimes directing users to anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers instead. Apple responded that this was a glitch which would be fixed in the final version. It was suggested that abortion providers could not be found in a Siri search because they did not use “abortion” in their descriptions. At the time the controversy arose, Siri would suggest locations to buy illegal drugs, hire a prostitute, or dump a corpse, but not find birth control or abortion services. Apple responded that this behaviour is not intentional and will improve as the product moves from betato final product.

Siri has not been well received by some English speakers with heavy accents, including Scottish and Americans from Boston or the south. Apple’s Siri FAQ states that, “as more people use Siri and it’s exposed to more variations of a language, its overall recognition of dialects and accents will continue to improve, and Siri will work even better.”

Despite many functions still requiring the use of the touchscreen, the National Federation of the Blind describes the iPhone as “the only fully accessible handset that a blind person can buy”.

Source: Wikipedia

http://www.apple.com/iphone/features/siri.html