Alexa “Who is She?”

How Surfing the Web is Changing

Alexa is now becoming a household gadget. The name “Alexa” or the phrase “Hi Alexa” can be heard from millions of homes within the US and worldwide. You can listen to your favorite band, check the weather, control specific functions within your house, and even order pizza by saying a simple command. Alexa was developed by Amazon and was released to the public in November 2014. Since then, it has become a household name and even referred to as a personal assistant. With similar products such as Siri, Bixby, Cortana, and Google Assistant, one should ask themselves whether the traditional search will be dead soon.

Logistics

As stated earlier, Alexa has many useful features; however, web surfing isn’t one of them. It’s necessary to ask such questions to show you how this could be possible. Firstly is connectivity. More specifically, how would the user be able to view their searches? For example, Alexa could webcast to a TV. But what about TVs that don’t support webcasts? The second is how the user would navigate their searches. If Amazon sticks with its hands-free model, this would be somewhat of an issue. However, if this “Alexa 2.0” came with a small trackball or wireless mouse, that could solve the problem. Lastly, is everything still going to be controlled via voice commands? If yes, this can be somewhat problematic, not so much for the user but the web developers.

Web Developers

Not too long ago, your personal computer was your primary viewing device for web browsing. Since smartphones and tablets popularity and have lower price points, web developers had to cater to a brand-new viewing style. This changed the way web developers designed their web pages. Initially, only a few popular sites could be viewed by your mobile device. Now, almost every page you visit has a mobile version. Most developers start with the question, “how would this look on my mobile device” before designing the website.

If Amazon were to include web surfing on their Alexa device, web developers would have to come up with a way to develop web pages that understand spoken commands. The shift would include voice recognition as well as UI web design. Telling Alexa to scroll to a certain point on the screen seems almost impossible. It will require a new set of web development skills to tackle such a challenge! The smartest have their hands complete managing the nearly impossible website development tasks.

Visitors & Customers

Consumers will have to face a similar pain point: getting used to using voice commands to surf the web (assuming Amazon sticks with their hands-free model). The frustrations of Alexa not understanding your command and directing you to a different site would be a whole new level of frustration. Being an owner of an Echo pod, I can tell you first-hand how frustrating it is for Alexa not to understand my command or play a song I didn’t say to play. Additionally, if websites weren’t updated with the current speech-to-talk web development software, this could only exacerbate the issue. Lastly, consumers will face the cold reality of not having the convenience of their keyboard and mouse or touch screen at their fingertips. This may not bother some; I prefer the ease of using my mouse, keyboard, or thumb to navigate a website.

Surfing the web reimagined

Let’s say that Amazon (being the genius company that they are) discovered a way to integrate Alexa with surfing the web perfectly. Envision pulling up websites on your TV and browsing from the comfort of your couch—no controls, no keyboard, no mouse, no touch screen, just your voice commands. “Alexia, scroll to the bottom,” “Alexia, click a link to the next page” will be the new sound emerging from homes worldwide.  I imagine the Amazon website will be the first to incorporate speech commands. You can view ratings and product descriptions with a simple command and add items to your cart.

What about Visual Content like YouTube

YouTube will probably be another fun site to visit; you can search by your command and say, “play video number 3”. Netflix would be another website that would receive the speech commands that would be similar to the Amazon “firestick.” Assuming all sites receive this royal treatment of being able to understand voice commands- you can visit CNN.com and get your news updates or see what’s on sale at your favorite furniture store.  But, you have to ask yourself, is this changing how you surf the internet? Essentially, you’re just replacing your keyboard and mouse with your voice and being susceptible to extreme frustration and an unpleasant surfing experience. What could make surfing the web truly reimagined?

Combining Alexa with computer software

As stated earlier, Alexa’s competing AI are Siri, Bixby, and Cortana. As a PC owner, I naturally tried Cortana when she was first introduced. With Cortana, you can use your voice commands to open up an internet explorer or a specific website, but the functionality stops there. You can’t have Cortana fully navigate a webpage or play a link to a video on CNN or YouTube. It’s minimal. If Alexa could be downloadable software for your computer with the functions discussed earlier, I can see your web experience changing.

You can type a report and say a simple command without leaving your word document, have Alexa browse Google for your research topics, and then instead of moving your mouse to scroll the page request, Alexa, click link 3. The possibility for this combination is endless, and being an Amazon product, you can expect to shop hands-free on your PC.  That’s one aspect of combining Alexa with software, but what about other combinations…

Combining Alexa with Rift Technology

This would be the ultimate combination of new technology working in unison. The VR headsets are designed to give the user the feeling of being immersed in their content, whether movies or games. You don’t have to worry about scrolling to the left or right of the page. You can tilt your head in whatever direction you would want to scroll. I believe this would be the game changer consumers are looking for, minus the price point of the VR headsets.

Surfing the net has never been an immersive activity. You have your bright monitor, the clicking of your keys, and a mouse. But you don’t have the desired amount of privacy. Someone can quickly peek over your shoulder while you’re reading an article on “how to pick up chicks” on askmen.com. The use of virtual reality is becoming increasingly popular; there are sites where you can take a virtual tour of a home using a VR headset. There’s also television that’s broadcasted in 3d. Imagine throwing on your VR headset and watching your favorite football game. It will feel like you have expensive front-row tickets. This would be the most immersive, interactive, refreshing way to surf the net.

Combining Alexa with Mobile devices

This last category seems redundant because you have Siri, Bixby, and Google at the top of the game. However, from experience, Siri can only do so much before you manually surf the web, similar to Bixby and Google. If Alexa was an application, you could download that has access to your microphone and internet browser. You can browse the net while you drive (hands-free- safety first). This would be the best testing ground for Alexa’s app with the speech-to-talk. Speech commands are already being implemented into the phone. Alexa can use current mobile technology to make it even better. Or, if Amazon is willing to take a risk, they can come out with a mobile device similar to what Google did, and that way, they can thoroughly test their new technology. Amazon can troubleshoot and provide updates based on consumer feedback, or they can release a beta version to a small pool of people and receive feedback that way. I feel this would be the safest way to go initially.

A step in the right direction…

This new device takes the voice command features of Alexa and improves them by adding more microphones and an external screen.  I love this new version of Alexa because it provides us, the consumer, with a look into the future. However, like its predecessor, the Echo Show can’t surf the web, even though it has an external screen.  I’m not sure why the developers decided not to go the entire internet route. I’m sure it has to do with a myriad of factors. The Echo Show does allow you to order from Amazon directly, and it even shows you an image of your order, the rating, and the product description.  Although lacking the ability to surf the web, this new device gives me hope that we will be close to having a competent AI who can surf the web one day soon.

Trouble Shooting

Without a doubt, there are current issues with the speech to command AIs. Notably, these issues must be fixed moving forward. I feel that the addition of more microphones is a must-have. There are countless times when I have to yell or go right next to Alexa for her to hear my command. Secondly, a feature to pick up on consumers with accents is probably one of the essential features that must be addressed. Lastly, have a way for hard-of-hearing consumers to be able to use these new features.