Talking apps

Easier said than done: Building for the voice-first audience

Startups such as Slang Labs, Reverie and Liv.ai are developing voice interfacing tools to make it easier for regional language users to navigate apps. Getting them to shop online, however, is a whole different ball game

24/08/18

Olina Banerji, Salman SH

Voice interfacing is set to change how regional language users interface with mobile apps

These voice interfacing tools will have to recognise not just 22 Indian languages, but the various different dialects they are spoken in

Start-ups like Slang Labs, Reverie and others are customising voice for ‘the’Bharat’ use-case

E-commerce is enthusiastic about voice-tech. But can it convert voice users to online shoppers?

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Kumar Rangarajan was driving when he heard his daughter call out to the car speaker. “Alexa, lower the volume,” she said. Now, the car wasn’t really the domain of Alexa—Amazon’s voice-controlled digital assistant—and the volume didn’t come down, but the moment stayed with Rangarajan. In fact, it was instrumental to his shift from the US…

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