As Samsung rolls out the English voice support of Bixby, the South Korean tech giant has provided some tips in order to maximize the use of its personal assistant. In order to activate Bixby Voice, the device owner will simply say the words “Hi, Bixby”. Once the handset detects these words, Bixby is then activated and ready for immediate use. Samsung advises that people speak at a distance of 15 to 20 centimeters away from the device. Any deviation from the said range could affect Bixby’s accuracy in detecting instructions. The personal assistant also allows the user to set quick commands, which are basically shortened versions of complicated and multi-step requests. In order to set these quick commands, users may proceed to the My Bixby menu in Bixby Home.
The electronics giant also highlighted how deep learning technologies are used to improve the voice detection and functionality of its virtual assistant, Bixby. Samsung noted that deep learning allows Bixby to identify voices even in noisy environments by analyzing the frequencies that constitute sounds. In addition, deep learning technologies also allow Bixby to learn from its mistakes by asking the device owner to select the appropriate response in situations wherein its responses did not satisfy the user. Samsung also noted that its virtual assistant has the ability to learn dialects and understand the associated different intonations, grammatical structures, and words. Language complexity has been previously reported as one of the reasons why English support of Bixby was delayed.
Aside from Bixby Voice, Samsung also provided additional information and tips on Bixby Vision. Bixby Vision allows device owners to use their cameras to identify items and search for information. To get the most out of Bixby Vision, the object to be scanned should be in focus and the image is captured in bright environments. The camera should also be steady so that the details that may identify the object are preserved in the resulting photograph. Samsung collaborated with Pinterest to show related images and with retailers like Amazon and Samsung Pay Shopping to provide faster and easier purchasing experience. With the help of Google’s translation database, Bixby can also scan and translate sentences through an included object character recognition (OCR) technology.
