According to a Microsoft patent the company worked on headphones for at least October 2017. More precisely, according to the patent, these are smart headphones, possibly operated with Cortana.
The traditional desktop is no longer the only device where users can do many of their everyday tasks. With the smartphone, more smart devices were added to the household and the next big topic could be ambient computing. The point here is that the user does not perform a task with a single device, but simply operates a device in the vicinity by using his own language, in which an artificial intelligence works in the background. Ambient computing is still in its infancy and it is currently completely unclear whether this area is at all suitable for the masses. Amazon and Google are already fully committed to this area, while Microsoft at least serves the private customer sector rather half-heartedly.
Ambient Computing does not only have to take place at home. It is also possible to integrate this artificial intelligence into headphones. Microsoft worked on exactly such a concept some time ago, as a recently published patent of the company reveals. According to the patent, it is a portable audio accessory device that can perform various complex actions based on speech initiated by the user. According to the patent, the headphones do not function independently and must be connected to another device. In addition, the headphones do not have their own processor unit for the commands but have them executed on the accessory device. Users could ask the digital assistant on the smartphone for directions, whether or incoming SMS messages and do many other similar tasks with attached headphones.
In principle, the product could be imagined like Apple AirPods, which can be connected to a smartphone and have a digital assistant called up in the ear. A patent does not mean that a product will actually appear. Recently, however, the number of patents has also increased, which are then at least partially realized in products. With Cortana, Microsoft is far behind the competition in the ambient computing sector. So far, however, the devices offer a comparatively small benefit. It would also require a real breakthrough in digital assistants to make such a product interesting for the masses.
Would you use Cortana headphones?
via Windows Latest