Monday, January 7, 2013

Big Brain Gains New AI Friend Siri

BIG BRAIN GAINS NEW AI FRIEND "SIRI"
The day has arrived: a new artificial intelligence friend gained by the Big Brain machine is Siri, the intelligence that lives inside the new Apple iPhone.

Siri is speech based and with access to the web, ability to do things by your command, and its uncanny capability to successfully and reliably answer questions gives it the ability to communicate unlimited volumes of knowledge and do useful work for the iPhone user.

Some of the functions handled by Siri:

http://www.apple.com/ios/siri/
http://osxdaily.com/2012/10/04/7-good-uses-of-siri/

Interfacing
Speech interfacing between the Big Brain machine intelligence (Parallax Propeller chip based) and Apple Siri software intelligence is made possible through audible language - simple speaking and listening. Big Brain asks questions and Siri provides answers. This is helpful when the Big Brain requests running apps, monitoring weather, checking internet, sending messages, checking mail, dialing phone numbers, performing calculations, doing conversions, checking current date and time, answering specific research inquiries and opening up all new doors of opportunity.

Match Made in Heaven?
Connecting Machine Intelligences can lead to many new opportunities so stay tuned to see what happens when we develop experiments along these lines. Want Siri? Siri is already installed in the new Apple iPhone 5.

The Future
Siri is also coming to Apple's desktop and portable computers in the near future. Versions are available for the ipad.

http://techcrunch.com/2012/11/19/apples-os-x-10-9-reportedly-bringing-siri-maps-integration-to-the-mac/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siri_software

About Siri 
(pronounced /ˈsɪri/) (English: Speech Interpretation and Recognition Interface) is an intelligent personal assistant and knowledge navigator which works as an application for Apple's iOS. The application uses a natural language user interface to answer questions, make recommendations, and perform actions by delegating requests to a set of Web services.

Adapting
Apple claims that the software adapts to the user's individual preferences over time and personalizes the results and performing tasks such as finding recommendations for nearby restaurants or getting directions.

Controlling Siri
There's no need to use messy soldered wires and dig into the electronics. Keeping it simple, with a robot servo on hand and without hacking the iPhone, a Parallax Propeller chip can turn a Parallax servo horn to mechanically push and activate iPhone's button. A small round piece of cork or rubber attached to the button helps preserve the surface of the switch. The Parallax OBEX routine moves the servo a small amount and a simple timing algorithm keeps track of the hold-down time.

Method Two
Another simple option completely bypasses the new iPhone's mechanical switch. It uses the free "built into the OS" virtual on-screen assisted touch-switch and requires a small setup. Setup is simple. Go to Settings, General, Accessibility, turn on AssistiveTouch, go back to home, and position the Power Ball to an unused space.

Now put a small stylus on the servo to tap the Power Ball and the Siri button will come up in the same place every time. Match this position with the Power Ball or a servo. Now the servo(s) can use the stylus to activate both the Power Ball switch and Siri when necessary. The details can be worked out with position and a Propeller chip controlling servo(s), timing, and audio.  

Other Phones
Google other smart phones and check Youtube for phone comparisons to SIRI. Some phones use their own version similar to SIRI and at least one phone is running a version provided by Google.