/* ---- Google Analytics Code Below */

Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Open Source Mycroft Assistant

Mentioned this assistant before.  Now appears to be available.  First open source example.

An Open-Source (and Cute) Alternative to Amazon Echo

Mycroft’s voice-enabled assistant is embodied in the startup’s friendly looking Mark 1 gadget, but you can build it into all kinds of devices.
by Rachel Metz  May 29, 2017 Technology Review.

Mark 1 is no Amazon Echo: it looks like an ’80s clock radio mashed up with WALL-E, and speaks with a robotic, bass-heavy British accent. But the startup behind it, Mycroft, hopes it has similar appeal to hackers, students, and companies who want a voice-enabled assistant that they can run on all kinds of devices and alter at will.

When it comes to voice-enabled digital assistants, there are plenty of them available these days—in addition to the Echo, which runs Amazon’s Alexa assistant, there’s Apple’s Siri, Microsoft’s Cortana, and Google’s assistant. None of these is open-source, though, so even if developers can use it on various devices (like Amazon’s Alexa), they can’t go under the hood and change its code—ostensibly, to help improve it.   .... " 

More coverage of many virtual assistants.

No comments: